Miriam Toews has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust prize–one of Canada’s big three awards for fiction–for her fifth novel, THE FLYING TROUTMANS. CBC
Awards
2008 Man Asian Winner
Filipino author Miguel Syjuco has won the Man Asian Literary Prize for ILUSTRADO, a about “a young Filipino caught within a notorious scandal spanning over the Philippine history.” The judges said it “seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and sociopolitical insight in the most satisfying measure. Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humor.”Prize site
Giller to Boyden
Joseph Boyden won Canada’s Giller Prize for his second novel THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE, after having been favored to win the award three years ago for his debut, THREE DAY ROAD. Juror Margaret Atwood praised the book “for its spare prose style that ranges from lyrical to brutal … and that shows us unforgettable characters and a northern landscape in a way we have never seen before.” Viking has the book scheduled for March 2009 release in the US. Mary Swan’s THE BOYS IN THE TREES had been the “overwhelming” favorite in the Guess the Giller contest, run through 30 public […]
PEN USA Award Winners
Pen USA announced their literary award winners, including: Fiction Daniel Alarcon, Lost City Radio Creative Nonfiction Julia Whitty, The Fragile Edge Research Nonfiction William Vollman, Poor People Poetry Juan Felipe Herrera, 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border Children’s Literature Ron Koertge, Strays Translation Donald Revell, A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud PEN
Goncourt to Afghan Author Rahimi
France’s Prix Goncourt has gone to Atiq Rahimi’s STONE OF PATIENCE (Syngue Sabour), “the story of a woman whose husband suffers brain damage from a bullet wound” according to publisher Editions P.O.L. Born in Afghanistan in 1962, Rahimi fled to Pakistan in his 20s and then received asylum in France before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 after the ejection of the Taliban. The author (also a filmmaker) told French television, “All I can say is: I’m so happy that I’ll need many dictionaries, many encyclopedias to find the word or words, the expressions, to express this reaction.” In the US, […]
December 2008 Indie Next List
The Hour I First Believed: A Novel by Wally LambBlindspot: A Novel by Jane Kremensky and Jill LeporeAmerican Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven RinellaA House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco by Suzanna ClarkeMade From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman by Hank Winger, Christopher Golden, Stephen R. BissetteThe Private Patient: An Adam Dalgleish Mystery by P. D. JamesThe Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange by Mark BarrowcliffeTribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth […]