Foran, Garfinkel and Gwyn Shortlisted for Governor General’s Literary Awards

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WCA is thrilled to announce that Charles Foran, Jonathan Garfinkel and Richard Gwyn have all been shortlisted for 2011 Governor General’s Literary Awards; Garfinkel in the Drama category, Gwyn and Foran in the Non-fiction category. The GGs, Canada’s national book awards celebrate the excellence of Canadian writers, illustrators and translators.

  • Charles Foran, Mordecai: The Life & Times (Alfred A. Knopf Canada)
  • Jonathan Garfinkel, House of Many Tongues
    (Playwrights Canada Press)
  • Richard Gwyn, Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times, Volume Two: 1867-1891
    (Random House Canada)

For more information please visit:

http://987321654.canadacouncil.net/en/newsandevents-nouvellesetevenements/News%20release%20-%20communique_11oct.aspx

Dallaire and Yanofsky shortlisted for Mavis Gallant Prize

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WCA is happy to announce that Romeo Dallaire and Joel Yanofsky have been shortlisted for the Mavis Gallant Prize; Dallaire for They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children (Random House Canada) and Yanofsky for Bad Animals: A Father’s Accidental Education in Autism (Penguin Canada).

For more information please visit:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Quebec+Writers+Federation+announces+2011+finalists/5516074/story.html#ixzz1anp20PWd

Zsuzsi Gartner’s collection of stories shortlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize!

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Here’s what the jury had to say: “Readers who doubt the modern world is grotesque and hilarious, heart‐stopping and wild, may discover they are delighted with Zsuzsi Gartner’s wonderful collection of stories, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives. From the specifications of covetable stereo equipment to the worries of the former terrorist, from the language of IKEA to gardening as warfare, this book shows the short story form at its savage best, each story capturing, with brilliant economy and grace, not only entire worlds but whole mindsets as they explode into eloquence. Gartner is one of the supreme noticers in contemporary fiction, and with this book she has produced a rare work of wisdom and laughter.”

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is Canada’s most distinguished literary prize, awarding $50,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English.

For more information on the prize, please visit:  www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca. For rights inquiries, please contact David Whiteside, david.whiteside@ca.penguingroup.com.

Rohinton Mistry Selected 2012 Laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature

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Westwood Creative Artists congratulates Rohinton Mistry on being selected by an international jury representing nine countries, as the 2012 laureate of the $50,000 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, sponsored by the University of Oklahoma, the Neustadt family and the international magazine World Literature Today, The choice was made during deliberations Sept. 29 on the OU Norman campus.

The Neustadt Prize, awarded every two years, is the only international literary award for which poets, playwrights and novelists are given equal consideration. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious international prize after the Nobel Prize in Literature and, in fact, is often referred to as the “American Nobel” because of its record of 28 laureates, candidates or jurors who in the past 41 years have been awarded Nobel Prizes following their involvement with the Neustadt Prize. The 22nd Neustadt laureate to win the prize, Mistry will accept the award at OU in fall 2012.

Dr. James Orbinski named an Officer of the Order of Canada

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WCA is proud to announce that on Friday, September 16, 2011, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, named Dr. James Orbinski an Officer of the Order of Canada. The honour was bestowed upon Dr. Orbinski for his contributions as a physician who has worked to improve healthcare access and delivery in developing countries, and as an advocate for those who have been silenced by war, genocide and mass starvation. The Order of Canada was created in 1967, during Canada’s centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Foran and Gwynn Shortlisted for Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction

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On Tuesday, the finalists for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction were announced at a ceremony held in Toronto. Included on the shortlist are Charles Foran and Richard Gwynn; Charles Foran for Mordecai: The Life & Times (Knopf Canada) and Richard Gwynn for National Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891 (Random House Canada).

The winner of the inaugural Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction will be announced October 25.

MacGregor and Gray shortlisted for Ottawa Book Awards

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WCA is happy to announce that Charlotte Gray and Roy MacGregor have been shortlisted for Ottawa Book Awards; Gray for Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike (Harper Collins) and MacGregor for Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him (Random House Canada).

For more information please visit: http://www.ottawa.ca/rec_culture/arts/awards/book/finalists_en.html