Literary Awards Shortlists

Shortlisted for 2009 is Chef by Jaspreet Singh, published by Véhicule Press.

Jaspreet Singh's stories have appeared in Walrus, Fiddlehead, and Zoetrope. Seventeen Tomatoes: Tales from Kashmir won the Quebec Writers' Federation 2004 McAuslan First Book Prize and has been translated into Spanish and Punjabi. His work has appeared in AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories from India (Random House, 2008), and he recently finished writing Speak Oppenheimer, a play for Montreal's Infinite Theatre. He is currently writer-in-residence at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Jaspreet Singh, contact Maya Assouad:

• T 514 844 6073
• F 514 844 7543
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Coventry by Helen Humphreys, published by Phyllis Bruce Books (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.).

Helen Humphreys is the author of four previous acclaimed novels: Leaving Earth, which won the City of Toronto Book Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book; Afterimage, winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize; The Lost Garden, a finalist for Canada Reads 2003; and Wild Dogs, winner of a Lambda Literary Award and one of NOW Magazine's Top 10 Fiction Books of 2004. Her recent non-fiction work, The Frozen Thames, was a #1 national bestseller. Helen Humphreys lives in Kingston, Ontario. Visit the author online at her website.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Helen Humphreys, contact Debra Anderson:

• T 416 975 9334, ext. 164
• F 416 975 9884
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Shortlisted for 2009 is The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci, published by Doubleday Canada.

Nino Ricci's first novel, Lives of the Saints, won the Governor General's Award for Fiction, the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the F.G. Bressani Prize. A long-time national bestseller, it was followed by the highly acclaimed In a Glass House and Where She Has Gone, which was shortlisted for the Giller Prize, and the national bestseller Testament, which won the Trillium Book Award in 2002. His most recent novel, The Origin of Species, won the Governor General's Award for Fiction. Nino Ricci lives in Toronto.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Nino Ricci, contact Bhavna Chauhan:

• T 416 957 1569
• F 416 975 9334
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Lord Selkirk: A Life by J.M. Bumsted, published by University of Manitoba Press.

J.M. Bumsted is the author of many books on Canadian history, including The People's Clearance, The Fur Trade Wars, The Red River Rebellion, and the widely used textbook, A History of the Canadian Peoples. After teaching Canadian history at the University of Manitoba for nearly thirty years, Jack Bumsted now owns a mystery bookstore in Winnipeg.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about J.M. Bumsted, contact Cheryl Miki:

• T 204 474 9998
• F 204 474 7566
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver by Stephen R. Bown, published by Douglas & McIntyre.

Stephen R. Bown has been writing about adventurers, travellers and explorers for years in magazines such as The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine. His book Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail was an international critical success and was selected as one of the Globe and Mail's Top 100 books of 2004. His 2005 book A Most Damnable Invention: Dynamite, Nitrates and the Making of the Modern World was a selection of the Scientific American Book Club, the History Book Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club. It was shortlisted for the Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction and the Canadian Science Writers Association Science in Society Book Award. Stephen Bown lives near Banff, Alberta.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Stephen R. Bown, contact Kim Mancini:

• T 604 254 7191, ext. 206
• F 604 254 9099
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Shortlisted for 2009 is The Fighting Canadians: Our Regimental History from New France to Afghanistan by David J. Bercuson, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

David J. Bercuson has written, co-authored or edited over 30 popular and academic books, including One Christmas in Washington, The Patricias, The Destruction of the Bismarck and Blood on the Hills. He is a regular commentator for television and radio, and has written for The Globe and Mail, the Calgary Herald, the National Post and the Toronto Star, among many other newspapers. Since 1997, he has been director of the Centre of Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. He is Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the 33 Field Engineer Squadron, a Land Force Reserve military engineer unit of the Canadian Forces. David Bercuson lives in Calgary.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about David J. Bercuson, contact Debra Anderson:

• T 416 975 9334, ext. 164
• F 416 975 9884
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Shortlisted for 2009 is The Drowning Girls by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, Daniela Vlaskalic, produced by Alberta Theatre Projects, published in 2009 by Playwrights Canada Press.

Beth Graham was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and grew up in Cochrane, Alberta. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Alberta. It was at university where she met Daniela Vlaskalic and Charlie Tomlinson. Their first collaboration was The Drowning Girls in 1999 for the Edmonton Fringe Festival. Other collaborations include Comrades, The Last Train, and Mules. Beth Graham lives in Edmonton.

Charlie Tomlinson is a teacher/director/actor who lives in St John's, Newfoundland, where he is artistic director of c2c theatre. He has worked at theatres from Newfoundland to the Yukon and has taught in Ontario, Alberta, and Newfoundland.

Daniela Vlaskalic is an actor and playwright who lives and works in Canada. Since graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting, she has worked in numerous theatres across the country. Daniela began collaborating with Beth Graham and Charlie Tomlinson in 1999, including The Last Train (winner of the 2003 Alberta Playwrights Network Playwriting Competition). They also shared the role of artist-in-residence at Catalyst Theatre in 2006. Daniela Vlaskalic currently lives in Toronto.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, Daniela Vlaskalic, contact Blake Sproule:

• T 416 703 0013
• F 416 408 3402
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Vimy by Vern Thiessen, published by Playwrights Canada Press.

Vern Thiessen is one of Canada's most produced playwrights. His work has been seen across Canada, the United States, and Europe, including Shakespeare's Will, Apple, Einstein's Gift, Blowfish, Vimy, and The Resurrection of John Frum. Vern is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding New Play, the City of Edmonton Arts Achievement Award, the University of Alberta Alumni Award for Excellence, the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition and the Governor General's Literary Award, Canada's highest honour for playwriting. Vern received his B.A. from the University of Winnipeg and an M.F.A. from the University of Alberta. He currently lives in Long Island, New York.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Vern Thiessen, contact Blake Sproule:

• T 416 703 0013
• F 416 408 3402
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Blood Mother by Su Croll, published by Signature Editions.

In addition to its nomination for the CAA Poetry Award, Su Croll's Blood Mother has recently been nominated for the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry in Alberta. Her first book of poetry, Worlda Mirth, won the 1992 Kalamalka New Writers Competition and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She has studied English and visual art at the University of Ottawa and writing and film at Concordia University in Montreal. Widely published in Canadian literary magazines and anthologies and the recipient of numerous awards for her fiction and poetry, Su Croll teaches English as a Second Language and lives in Edmonton.

Contact Information

Interviews contacts for Su Croll contact Karen Haughian:

• T 204 779 7803
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Chameleon Hours by Elise Partridge, published by House of Anansi Press Inc.

Elise Partridge's poems have appeared in Canadian, American, British, and Irish journals, including The Fiddlehead, Maisonneuve, The Malahat Review, The Walrus, The New Yorker, Poetry, The Southern Review, and Slate. Her first book, Fielder's Choice, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award; her second, Chameleon Hours, was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and won the Canadian Authors Association Poetry Award. She has taught literature and writing at several universities and worked as an editor. Currently she lives in Vancouver.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Elise Partridge, contact Kate McQuaid:

• T 416 363 4343, ext. 29
• F 416 363 1017
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Palilalia by Jeffery Donaldson, published by McGill-Queen's University Press.

Jeffery Donaldson was born in Toronto and educated at Victoria College, University of Toronto. He teaches poetry, metaphor theory, American literature, and creative writing in the English Department at McMaster University. He has co-edited a volume of critical essays entitled Frye and the Word: Religious Contexts in the Writings of Northrop Frye, and has published two previous books of poetry, Once Out of Nature (M&S, 1991), and Waterglass (McGill-Queen's, 1999). He lives near Grimsby on the Niagara Escarpment.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Jeffery Donaldson, contact Jacqueline Davis:

• T 514 398 2555
• F 514 398 4333
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Shortlisted for 2009 is James Cummins, for Ambrosia: About a Culture (nonfiction) published by Clark-Nova Books.

James Cummins is a writer, journalist and composer of classical music. This is his fourth book and his second on the topic of Electronica—he was also the co-author of the autobiography of House music inventor Jesse Saunders House Music…The Real Story. He has a BA in philosophy with a minor in political science from Concordia University and currently resides in Montreal. Originally from Alberta, James attended the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts in Edmonton.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about James Cummins, contact Troy Cunningham:

• T 905 876 6516
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Shortlisted for 2009 is Jesse Patrick Ferguson, for 10 poems from his upcoming collection, Harmonics (Freehand Books, Sept 2009).

Jesse Patrick Ferguson was born and raised in Cornwall, Ontario. He holds a master's degree in English literature from University of Ottawa, and he currently resides in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he is a poetry editor for The Fiddlehead. Author of five poetry chapbooks, Harmonics (Freehand Books, September 2009) is Ferguson's first full-length poetry collection. His work has appeared in prominent Canadian and international periodicals like grain, Arc, The Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, Magma Poetry (UK), Harper's and Poetry Magazine. He is interested in folk music, and he plays several instruments, including the guitar, mandolin, violin, bodhran, djembe and harmonica.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about Jesse Patrick Ferguson, contact Shelley Sopher:

• T 403 232 6863
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Shortlisted for 2009 is James Sandham, for The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt (fiction) published by Clark-Nova Books.

James Sandham was born in St. Catharines and grew up in Fonthill. He has a degree in Political Science from the University of Guelph. Since graduating in 2006 he has been living and writing in Toronto, with his beautiful wife, Desiree. The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt is his first novel.

Contact Information

For interviews or information about James Sandham, contact Troy Cunningham:

• T 905 876 6516
• E