CAA Announces Literary Awards Shortlists

From the Canadian Authors Association:

May 4, 2009 – The Canadian Authors Association is pleased to announce the Canadian Authors Association Literary Awards shortlist for 2009. The winners will be announced at the CAA Literary Awards gala on Saturday, June 6, 2009, at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto.

The shortlisted authors will be invited to read from their work at a special event, An Evening with the Authors, on Thursday, June 4. Open to the public, this free event promises to be one of many highlights during the MagNet conference held June 2 through 5 at 89 Chestnut.

Introduced in 1975, the CAA Literary Awards continue the association’s long tradition of honouring Canadian writers who achieve excellence without sacrificing popular appeal. The fifteen finalists were chosen from over 300 nominations.

The 2009 CAA Literary Awards shortlists are as follows:

CAA/MOSAID Technologies, Inc. Award for Fiction

Chef by Jaspreet Singh, published by Véhicule Press

Coventry by Helen Humphreys, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci, published by Doubleday Canada

CAA/Lela Common Award for Canadian History

Lord Selkirk: A Life by J.M. Bumsted, published by University of Manitoba Press

Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver by Stephen R. Bown,
published by Douglas & McIntyre

The Fighting Canadians: Our Regimental History from New France to Afghanistan by David J. Bercuson,
published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

CAA/Carol Bolt Award for Drama

Bone Cage by Catherine Banks, published by Playwrights Canada Press

The Drowning Girls by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, Daniela Vlaskalic, produced by Alberta Theatre
Projects, published in 2009 by Playwrights Canada Press

Vimy by Vern Thiessen, published by Playwrights Canada Press

CAA Award for Poetry

Blood Mother by Su Croll, published by Signature Editions

Chameleon Hours by Elise Partridge, published by House of Anansi Press Inc.

Palilalia by Jeffrey Donaldson, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press

CAA/BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award

James Cummins, for Ambrosia: About a Culture (nonfiction)

Jesse Patrick Ferguson, for 10 poems

James Sandham, for The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt (fiction)


Sponsors for the CAA Literary Awards include MOSAID Technologies, Inc., the estate of Lela Florence Common, Playwrights Canada Press and Playwrights Guild of Canada, and BookTelevision.

Founded by Stephen Leacock and several other prominent Canadian writers in 1921, the Canadian Authors Association has continued to maintain a focus on “writers helping writers” since its inception. Some 25,000 writers have been members of the CAA in its 88-year history, including Bliss Carman, Nellie McClung, and Robert W. Service.

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~kc