For Immediate Release
Shortlisted Titles Announced for New Brunswick Book Awards
April 11, 2023 – The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) and The Fiddlehead have announced the shortlisted titles for the 8th annual New Brunswick Book Awards. The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on Saturday, June 3, as part of WFNB’s annual WordSpring writing festival in Saint John.
The program will celebrate books published in the 2022 calendar year in the poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children’s picture books categories. The finalists are as follows:
Mrs. Dunster’s Award for Fiction
Judge: Leslie Greentree is an Alberta-based artist and is the author of four books. She has won CBC literary competitions for short fiction and poetry, and the Sarah Selecky 2013 Little Bird short fiction competition.
Valerie Sherrard, A Bend in the Breeze (DCB Cormorant), Miramichi
Meghan Rose Allen, The Summer the School Burned Down (Indie-published), Sackville
Lee D. Thompson, Apastoral: A Mistopia (Corona/Samizdat), Moncton
Alice Kitts Memorial Award for Excellence in Children’s Writing
Judge: Alma Fullerton is an award-winning PEI author- author/illustrator, whose books have been nominated and/or have won awards including the Governor General Finalist 2008 and many others.
Kelly Cooper, Midnight and Moon (Tundra), Belleisle Creek; illustrated Daniel Miyares
Jennifer McGrath, Pugs Cause Traffic Jams (Kids Can Press), Hillsborough; illustrated by Kathryn Durst
Masen Grasse, Trucks (Monster House Publishing); illustrated by Alexia LePage
The Fiddlehead Poetry Book Prize
Judge: Weyman Chan of Calgary has written six books of poetry and was a finalist for the 2008 Governor General's Award for his second book of poetry, Noise From the Laundry.
Amber McMillan, This Is A Stickup, (Wolsak and Wynn), Fredericton
Michael Pacey, Wild Apples: A Dialogue With Thoreau (Pottersfield Press), Fredericton
Sue Sinclair, Almost Beauty: New and Selected Poems (Goose Lane Editions), Fredericton
Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick Nonfiction Award
Judge: Rowan McCandless is an award-winning writer from Winnipeg whose work has appeared in various anthologies and journals. A finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award in nonfiction, Rowan is also a co-winner of the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book (2022).
James Mullinger, Brit Happens* Or Living the Canadian Dream, (Goose Lane), Rothesay
Mark Anthony Jarman, Touch Anywhere to Begin (Goose Lane) Fredericton
Jon Claytor, Take the Long Way Home (Conundrum Press), Sackville
The New Brunswick Book Awards are open to traditionally published and self-published authors who have lived in the province for three of the last five years, including the award year.
The book awards program represents a partnership between the Writers’ Federation, which for more than 35 years has passionately supported the development of home-grown writers at all stages of development, and The Fiddlehead, Canada’s oldest literary magazine, which has nurtured New Brunswick's literary culture for more than 75 years.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
