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News
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Time To Vote, Alberta Readers! |
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 Here at NeWest Press, nothing gets our adrenaline flowing like a good literary competition — and our heartbeats have kicked into high gear now that the polls are open at the Alberta Readers' Choice Award. That's the new prize created by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta and the Edmonton Public Library to reward the public's favourite work of Alberta literature from last year with a hefty $10,000 prize.
NeWest Press has two horses in this race: Myrna Kostash's masterful exercise in bringing Alberta history to life, The Frog Lake Reader; and Michael Davie's hilarious coming-of-age novel, Fishing for Bacon. Quite frankly, we can't choose between them... but luckily, we don't have to — the winner will be determined by public vote. Which is where you come in. Just visit the Alberta Readers' Choice Award website between now and April 30 and click on the title you like best. Simplicity! Keep in mind, though, that you can vote multiple times, although no more than once a day. So bookmark that site, Alberta readers, and visit it often. |
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Voice Your Choice, Alberta Readers |
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 NeWest Press got a nice Monday lift this week from the news that two of its 2009 titles — The Frog Lake Reader by Myrna Kostash, and Fishing for Bacon by Michael Davie — are among the five contenders for the inaugural Alberta Readers' Choice Award. With a $10,000 prize going into the winner's bank account, it's a literary competition on the same monetary scale as the Governor-General's Award.
Regular NeWest readers will be very familiar with both titles already. In The Frog Lake Reader, Edmonton author Myrna Kostash masterfully assembles a wide range of sources and multiple cultural perspectives — from modern-day historians to contemporary eyewitnesses — into a swiftly paced, panoramic account of the 1885 Cree uprising known as the Frog Lake Massacre.
Fishing for Bacon, meanwhile, is the delightful debut novel from Calgary’s Michael Davie, a coming-of-age romp about hapless teen Bacon Sobelowski, who undergoes a wild series of erotic misadventures on his Kenny Rogers-inspired quest to find his special “someone.”
The Alberta Readers’ Choice Award is a new prize created by the Edmonton Public Library and the Book Publishers Association of Alberta and designed to promote the work of Alberta authors and publishers,  as well as encourage the reading public to support Alberta literature. A longlist of 10 titles was compiled by librarians across the province, then whittled down to the current shortlist of five by a jury of Alberta notables, including musician/senator Tommy Banks, arts and heritage figure/Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling, broadcaster/journalist Fil Fraser, and book-business entrepreneurs Laurie Greenwood and Simone Lee.
As in the CBC’s popular “Canada Reads” competition, the winner will be determined by the public — although each juror will attempt to sway the vote by championing their favourite title at a panel discussion at Edmonton’s Stanley Milner Library on April 17: Tommy Banks will argue the merits of The Frog Lake Reader, while Laurie Greenwood will go to bat for Fishing for Bacon.
Voting is open from March 15 to April 30 at the official ARC Award website. The winner will be announced at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards gala at the Delta Edmonton South Hotel on May 14, 2010.
So pick up copies of the competing titles at your local EPL branch or your favourite bookstore and cast your vote! |
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Librarian Ogles Cleavage |
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 "Melwyk," an Ontario librarian who also runs the literary blog The Indextrious Reader, has posted a lovely and enthusiastic new review of Theanna Bischoff's novel Cleavage. Here's a taste of what she had to say:
"The voice of the book is fantastic. Leah seems so real, and so isolated in her experience of this disease.... I loved the way she spoke, and the additions of newspaper articles, a magazine quiz, a sarcastic résumé, dictionary entries, postcards, etc. between the narrative itself are intriguing, and not at all gimmicky. I thought the story and the form were wonderfully suited, and found Bischoff to be a supremely confident writer who has turned out a very well crafted story.
"[Bischoff] is currently studying for her PhD in psychology — I just hope that along with her future career as a psychologist she will continue writing fiction. I enjoyed reading this novel, feeling as if I was being led through this not-so-pleasant life by someone that I could trust would give it meaning. Definitely recommended if you are interested in modern narratives about young Canadian women or about those dealing with serious illness." You can read the entire thing here. |
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Garry Ryan: The Vegas Interview |
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 Crime writer and blogger Anthony Bidulka recently tracked down NeWest Press author Garry Ryan in Las Vegas and distracted him from the slot machines long enough to ask him a few frivolous questions. Ryan's answers won't tell you much about Smoked, the exciting upcoming entry in his Detective Lane mystery series, but you will learn plenty about Ryan's Canadian credentials (or lack thereof), as well as which member of the cast of Caddyshack he most resembles. (Hint: it's not Bill Murray.)
10 Silly Things You Didn't Know About Canadian Crime Writer Garry Ryan |
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Alberta Reader's Choice Award |
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Alberta librarians have shortlisted 10 titles from Albertan publishers and authors for the first annual Alberta Reader's Choice Awards, including the recently released Frog Lake Reader by Myrna Kostash, as well as Fishing For Bacon by Michael Davie. Five jurors will narrow the chosen titles down to five. Following the public vote, the winner will be revealed at the annual Alberta Book Publishing Awards gala in Edmonton in May. |
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