On May 14, I flew to Halifax for the Atlantic Book Awards. My novel, Braco, was nominated for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. The award went to Keir Lowther for Dirty Bird.
Am I disappointed? Not at all. How could I be? To be one of three nominated for the award throughout Atlantic Canada is an amazing accomplishment for any first time novelist. From the moment I learned that Braco had been nominated, I felt the nomination itself was a prize and I’m honoured and very happy to have it. And the best part was the opportunity to go to Halifax and introduce Braco to people who otherwise may not have known about the book.
I was very impressed with how the whole event was organized. The awards is a week of activities leading up to the ceremony on May 16th. Before I left for Halifax, I had a reading in St. John’s at the local Chapters Bookstore. In Halifax, I read at the Keshen Goodman library with Keir Lowther, Nicole Dixon (High Water Mark), Scott Fotheringham (The Rest is Silence) and D.R. MacDonald (Anna From Away).
I also had the chance to attend the readings for the nominees of the Newfoundland Book Awards. This year, the award was for children/YA and poetry. Mark Callahan (Gift Horse) and George Murray (Whiteout) read at Carlton’s Pub in downtown Halifax. The nominees for the Rogers Communication Award for Non-fiction conducted their readings at the Halifax Public Gardens on a rainy Thursday morning. I heard from Joan Sullivan (In the Field), Greg Malone (Don’t Tell the Newfoundlanders) and Mike Heffernan (The Other Side of Midnight). Both events were well attended and the readings at all the events certainly made it clear why they were nominated.
The final ceremony on Thursday night was held at the Alderney Gate Theatre in Dartmouth. The building is attached to the ferry terminal but not really connected. I’m not sure. I just know I went upstairs, down an elevator, across a skywalk and up in an elevator to find the reception. Luckily, I found some other lost souls along the way and we found our way together. Then to get to the theatre, we went downstairs, upstairs and then down an elevator. Or was it up? 🙂
Outside the theatre there was a silent auction. I put in a couple bids and eventually walked away with the hardcover Hunger Games trilogy. The awards themselves took about two hours with a nice break in the middle. I had a great chat with a Best Atlantic Book nominee Richard Lemm (Riptides: New Island Fiction) and his wife Lee Ellen.
By the end of the night, I was ready to sleep for a week. The whole experience was thrilling and taxing at the same time. I’m looking forward now to getting back to my current project and a taking quick trip to Iceland in four weeks.
Yes. I never ends! LOL
Here are some pics from the readings:
