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Award News

Meet the recipients of the 2024 Emerging Writers Prizes

Award News, Program News

Congratulations to the 2024 recipients of WFNS’s three Emerging Writers Prizes!

Each established between 2021 and 2023, these three prizes support writers as they advance book-length works-in-progress and as they undertake creative writing mentorships and professional training to advance their literary careers.

  • The Charles R. Saunders Prize (valued at $4000) encourages literary creation in speculative fiction and in nonfiction by emerging writers of marginalized backgrounds—in short, writing by someone like Charles R. Saunders at the beginning of his career.
  • The Elizabeth Venart Prize (valued at $1700) recognizes the unique barriers to literary creation faced by women and other marginalized genders—in particular, the lack of time and space imposed by systems of gendered labour and gendered childrearing.
  • The Senator Don Oliver Black Voices Prize (valued at $5000) recognizes the barriers to literary creation and recognition faced by Black and African Nova Scotian writers—who have been and still are marginalized by systemic inequality, including within Canadian publishing.

Theo Feehan-Peters

2024 Charles R. Saunders Prize

Theo Feehan-Peters is a software developer by trade who lives in Windsor, Nova Scotia. After discovering creative writing through game development, he has fallen in love with the craft. Theo grew up in the United States, but Canada has always been his home—particularly Cape Breton, where his parents are from.

Theo's prize-winning submission is an excerpt from his speculative novel-in-progress, Paradise, a loose retelling of the war in Heaven from Lucifer's perspective, set in a cyberpunk dystopia ruled by angels. He is developing this manuscript through a five-month Alistair MacLeod Mentorship with author Tom Ryan.

Janice Sampson

2024 Elizabeth Venart Prize

Janice Sampson attended the University of King's College in Halifax, NS, and has lived her whole life on the beautiful south shore of Nova Scotia. The beach is one of her favourite places. The library is a close second as she loves books, slightly dismayed when a good one ends. She enjoys fiction and non-fiction and reads constantly.

Writing continuously since grade school, Janice has attended many creative writing workshops and joined several wonderful writers' groups. It is only recently that she submitted her stories to share with readers, just deciding she has a story to tell.

She is overjoyed and thrilled to win the Elizabeth Venart Prize. Her youthful aspiration was to be an author; being selected will give her the encouragement to pursue her dream.

Habiba Diallo

2024 Senator Don Oliver Black Voices Prize

Habiba Diallo is the author of #BlackInSchool (University of Regina Press, 2021). She was a finalist in the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize, the 2019 Writers' Union of Canada Short Prose Competition, and the 2018 London Book Fair Pitch Competition. Habiba is an advocate and activist in support of women's maternal health. The Federal Government of Canada recognized her as an outstanding woman in 2019.

Habiba's prize-winning submission is an excerpt from her debut novel-in-progress, which captures the life of a young woman who must try to forgive to free herself from the burden of loss.

Meet the recipients of the 2024 Emerging Writers Prizes Read More »

Support the Charles R. Saunders Prize

Award News

The Charles R. Saunders Prize is a new prize created by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, which will be awarded annually starting this fall to an emerging writer working in speculative fiction or nonfiction. The prize includes $1,000 cash along with a spot in WFNS’s annual Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program (valued at $3,000).

The prize is named in memory of Charles R. Saunders (1946 – 2020), a Black author and journalist and the founder of the “sword and soul” literary genre with his Imaro novels.

“Charles loved encouraging new writers. Many people wrote to him first as fans, and he encouraged them to pursue their own writing. His first career in Canada was teaching at a university, and the love for learning about other people’s writing never left him,” says Jon Tattrie, a friend and colleague of Saunders.

The mentorship aspect to the new prize is important, distinguishing it from other prizes for emerging writers.

“We’ve tried to rig it so that Charles would win every time,” Tattrie says with a laugh, explaining why emerging writers in literary genres as diverse as speculative fiction and non-fiction qualify for the prize.

Born and raised in the US, Saunders lived in Halifax, NS, from 1985 onward. He was an editor and columnist at The Daily News in Halifax, working there until the newspaper closed in 2008. He also wrote novels, non-fiction books with a focus on Black history, screenplays, and radio plays.

Tattrie is part of a group of writers, including Lindsay Ruck, Portia Clark, Sherry Ramsey, Paul Bacon, and Sean Bedell, who brought the idea of a prize in Saunders’s memory to the Writers’ Fed last year. Tattrie, editor of Atlantic Books Today, is working on a biography of Charles Saunders called Sword and Soul to be published by McClelland and Stewart.

“When Charles died alone in 2020 and was buried in an unmarked grave, his friends and fans in Canada and the U.S. were devastated. We decided to team up to secure Charles’s legacy and honour his life,” he explains. “Our hope is that (through the prize) Charles can inspire and teach new generations of writers.”

The endowment for the Charles R. Saunders Prize currently totals $15,802. WFNS’s immediate goal is to raise another $10,000, which will make this fund sustainable and ensure the long-term existence of the cash prize at $1,000 a year.

One of the first people to step up in support of the Saunders Prize was Black journalist Sherri Borden Colley, who has committed to making a $120 donation in Saunders’s memory each year:

Contributing to this award is just one way we as a community can carry on Charles’s legacy and open up opportunities for aspiring Black journalists and writers.

Through his newspaper columns focusing on issues in Black communities, Charles got uncomfortable dialogue going about the true reality of race relations in Nova Scotia. And through those columns, his other writing, and his active involvement with the Black Journalists of Nova Scotia, Charles elevated Black voices and served as a mentor to newer Black journalists and journalism students.

Through this prize, Charles will be remembered and his name will continue to be spoken.

To ensure the Charles R. Saunders Prize is sustainable, the Writers’ Federation seeks to raise money for its endowment. Charitable tax receipts will be issued for all contributions $10 and above.

Support the Saunders Prize Endowment

The Charles R. Saunders Prize is one of three Emerging Writers Prizes offered by WFNS. The other prizes include the Elizabeth Venart Prize, for emerging writers who identify as women and/or as other marginalized genders, and the Senator Don Oliver Black Voices Prize, for emerging writers who identify as Black and/or African Nova Scotian.

The Saunders, Venart, and Oliver prizes are open to writers who have published no more than one book-length literary project. Writers eligible for more than one prize will send in just a single submission package and submission fee. Submissions for 2024 prizes are due Oct 20, 2023.

Support the Charles R. Saunders Prize Read More »

Atlantic Book Awards announces six winners and presents 2023 Atlantic Legacy Award

Award News

HALIFAX, NS – Atlantic Canadian authors and publishers were celebrated at the 2023 Atlantic Book Awards Gala on Wednesday, June 7, in Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library. The recipients of six awards—including the $30,000 Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, one of the largest literary awards in the country—were revealed at the evening gala, which was hosted by author and journalist Lindsay Ruck.

At the top of the night, Dartmouth, NS, author Elaine McCluskey received the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction for Rafael Has Pretty Eyes, published by New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions. The award was announced by Alistair MacLeod’s son, Alexander, who on Monday night took home a Nova Scotia Book Award for his collection of short stories, Animal Person.

Nicola Davison, also a resident of Dartmouth, won the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature for her moving coming-of-age, young adult novel, Decoding Dot Grey, published by Nimbus Publishing of Halifax. The award was presented by Gavin Brimer, the son of the late Ann Connor Brimer, who was an educator and Atlantic Officer for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

A feature of the evening was the presentation of the 2023 Atlantic Legacy Award to the Raddall Family of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. The award was established to honour those who have made a lasting contribution to the development of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada and have provided opportunity and inspiration for those sharing Atlantic Canadian stories through writing and publishing. The late Dr. Thomas Raddall, son of CanLit pioneer and bestselling author Thomas Head Raddall (1903–1994), was instrumental in creating the prestigious and generously funded Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize in his father’s honour. Valued at $30,000, “the Raddall” is the largest literary prize in Atlantic Canada and is intended to provide writers “the gift of time and peace of mind.” Three-time Raddall Award recipient Donna Morrissey paid tribute to the family, including Tom Raddall III, who accepted the award on the family’s behalf. The beloved Newfoundland author, who first received the Raddall in 2003 for her novel Downhill Chance, then in 2006 for Sylvanus Now and 2017 for The Fortunate Brother, was also a finalist for the award in 2000 and in 2013. Morrissey, a longtime resident of Halifax, delighted the audience with her trademark humour.

This year’s recipient of the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is Halifax author K. R. Byggdin, for their first novel, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty), a refreshing coming-of-age story that challenges stereotypes of rural life. Of the book, the Raddall jury said, “As funny and sassy as it is poignant and observant, Wonder World is a virtuoso exploration of love and hope, a story of building bridges to family and community while staying true to oneself.”

After the announcements of the winners of the J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award (Nanci Lee, for Hsin, published by Brick Books) and the Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing (Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis, for The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations, published by UBC Press) came the presentation of the APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award, which goes to an Atlantic Canadian publisher whose book best exemplifies excellence and achievement in publishing. The 2023 award went to New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions with The Beaverbrook Art Gallery for Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and John Leroux. The production values of this timely retrospective truly impressed the jury, who felt it was not only beautiful, but of historic and cultural significance and a crucial contribution to the Canadian identity.

The 2023 Atlantic Book Awards were presented by last year’s award winners, including Michelle Butler Hallet, David Huebert, Chad Lucas, and Alyda Faber, with some authors joining live and in-person and others via video. Attendees also enjoyed listening to excerpts of each of the winning titles, read by representatives of the close-knit literary community, including one of the two new Halifax Youth Poet Laureates, fifteen-year-old Damini Awoyiga. A live stream of the awards show allowed viewers to enjoy the ceremony online; it is available for viewing at atlanticbookawards.ca.

The winners of the 2023 Atlantic Book Awards:


Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction

Elaine McCluskey, Rafael Has Pretty Eyes (Goose Lane Editions)


Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature

Nicola Davison, Decoding Dot Grey (Nimbus Publishing)


APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book

Goose Lane Editions with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley & John Leroux


Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing

Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis, The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations (UBC Press)


J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award

Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books)


Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

K. R. Byggdin, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty)


The board of the non-profit Atlantic Book Awards Society is made up of representatives of the Atlantic Canadian book and writing community. The 2023 Atlantic Book Awards and Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Book Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Atlantic Books Today, and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.

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Festival Coordinator and Media Contact: Heather Fegan
902-880-5137
atlanticbookawardsfestival@gmail.com
www.atlanticbookawards.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AtlanticBookAwards
Twitter: http://twitter.com/atlbookawards
Instagram: http://instagram.com/AtlanticBookAwards

Atlantic Book Awards announces six winners and presents 2023 Atlantic Legacy Award Read More »

Five Nova Scotian authors win 2023 literary awards

Award News

DARTMOUTH, NS – Activists Sister Dorothy Moore and El Jones were among the five Nova Scotia writers recognized with Nova Scotia Book Awards at a ceremony held Monday evening at Brightwood Golf and Country Club in Dartmouth. Best-selling author Charlene Carr, who lives in Dartmouth, was the host.

Mi’kmaw Elder Sister Dorothy Moore was presented with the George Borden Writing for Change Award for A Journey of Love and Hope (Nimbus Publishing), a collection of talks, presentations, prayers, and ceremonies by the human rights activist. Named for the late George Borden (1935–2020), the Writing for Change Award is for an outstanding non-fiction book by a Nova Scotian author that inspires others and challenges the status quo.

Poet, professor, and activist El Jones took home the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award for Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing). In this book, Jones employs both poetry and prose to examine the movement to abolish prisons. From the jury citation: “El Jones packs meaning into every word and phrase, intertwined with unwavering undertones of cultural genocide, Black annihilation, and the institutionalized trauma that continues to smother and suppress a people and their intimate and necessary cultural connections.”

The first award of the evening, the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction), went to Yarmouth native Mandy Rennehan for The Blue Collar CEO: My Gutsy Journey from Rookie Contractor to Multi-Millionaire Construction Boss (HarperCollins). The book is the “respectfully uncensored” story of how Rennehan’s business savvy and innovative thinking led her to the top of the male-dominated construction industry before she turned thirty.

Sylvia D. Hamilton won the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award for her poetry collection Tender (Gaspereau Press). The book chronicles the experiences of Black people, Black women in particular, in their desire to live full, complex, unencumbered lives. According to the jury: “Tender is bursting at the seams with love, compassion, and vulnerability.”

Alexander MacLeod received the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction for Animal Person (McClelland and Stewart), a short fiction collection exploring love, compromise, and the idea of self. “Lagomorph,” one of eight short stories in this collection, previously won the prestigious O. Henry Award and the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Art Award.

This is the second year for the Nova Scotia Book Awards. Until last year, Nova Scotia didn’t have its own provincial literary awards celebration, as all the book awards for Nova Scotia authors were presented as part of the Atlantic Book Awards.

Literary events continue this week, culminating with the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on Wednesday, June 7, at 7:00 p.m. at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library. For tickets, please see Atlanticbookawards.ca.

The Nova Scotia Book Awards is a partnership between the Dartmouth Books Awards Committee and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, with support from the Atlantic Book Awards Society. The Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards is grateful for generous funding from Nova Scotia Gaming Support4Culture and the University of King’s College.

Here is the full list of winners, in the order presented:

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction)

Mandy Rennehan, The Blue Collar CEO (HarperCollins)


Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award

Sylvia D. Hamilton, Tender (Gaspereau Press)

 

George Borden Writing for Change Award

Elder Sister Dorothy Moore, A Journey of Love and Hope (Nimbus Publishing)

 

Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)

Alexander MacLeod, Animal Person (McClelland & Stewart)

 

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award

El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing)


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For more information, contact Lindsay Ruck: rucklindsay98@gmail.com; (902) 293-5236

Five Nova Scotian authors win 2023 literary awards Read More »

Winners of the 2023 Nova Writes Competition

Award News

Congratulations to the four prize-winners in the 2023 Nova Writes Competition for Unpublished Manuscripts!

Budge Wilson Short Fiction Prize
Andrea Reynolds, “Rhythms of Here and Gone”

H.R. (Bill) Percy Short Creative Non-Fiction Prize:
Elizabeth Collis, “Ties that Bind”

Joyce Barkhouse Writing for Children Prize:
Jennifer Overton, “Parish Island”

Rita Joe Poetry Prize:
Nicholas Selig, “In the Twilight House”

Our deep gratitude to the readers and judges of this years’ competition—and congrats also to the remaining finalists: Bradley Ferguson, Jessica Drohan-Burke, Tara G. Harris, and Victor Maddalena (for the Budge Wilson); Mary Dodd, Heather Jenkins, James MacDuff, and Scott Neilson (for the H.R. Percy); Kyle Cormier and William Pitcher (for the Joyce Barkhouse); and Teigen Bond (for the Rita Joe).

The winners in each Nova Writes category will be invited to read from their winning compositions at the Celebration of Emerging Writers—alongside this year’s MacLeod Mentorship graduates—on Tuesday, May 30 (6:30pm), at Café Lara (2347 Agricola St, Halifax).

Winners of the 2023 Nova Writes Competition Read More »

2023 Nova Scotia and Atlantic Book Awards shortlists

Award News

Congratulations to the 15 authors shortlisted for WFNS-administered Nova Scotia Book Awards and Atlantic Book Awards.

An extra congratulations to Nanci Lee, whose debut full-length collection, Hsin, is shortlisted for both the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award and the J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award.

Click on any cover to learn more about the shortlisted title and to purchase it from its publisher.

Nova Scotia Books Awards

The winners of this year’s Nova Scotia Book Awards, which combine three Dartmouth Book Awards and WFNS’s two provincial awards below, will be announced on Monday, June 5 (7pm), at Brightwood Golf & Country Club (Dartmouth). The event will be hosted by author Charlene Carr (Hold My Girl).

Get tickets ($10)

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award​
2023 Finalists

Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)

El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing)

Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway, Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement (Penguin Random House)


Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award ​
2023 Finalists

Sylvia D. Hamilton, Tender (Gaspereau Press)

Sue Goyette, Monoculture (Gaspereau Press)

Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books)

Atlantic Books Awards

The winners of this year’s six Atlantic Scotia Book Awards, including WFNS’s three regional awards below, will be announced on Wednesday, June 7 (7pm), in Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library. This gala event will be hosted by journalist, author, and editor Lindsay Ruck (Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians) and will be livestreamed for free.

Get tickets ($20)


Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
2023 Finalists

Nicola Davison, Decoding Dot Grey (Nimbus Publishing)

Vicki Grant, Tell Me When You Feel Something (Penguin Random House Canada)

Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes (Nimbus Publishing)


J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award​
2023 Finalists

Luke Hathaway, The Affirmations (Biblioasis)

Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books)

Annick MacAskill, Shadow Blight (Gaspereau Press)


Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award​
2023 Finalists

K. R. Byggdin, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty)

Bobbi French, The Good Women of Safe Harbour (HarperCollins Canada)

Lisa Moore, This is How We Love (House of Anansi)

2023 Nova Scotia and Atlantic Book Awards shortlists Read More »

Launch of Island Folk’s Blowing Raspberries

Announcements, Award News

Please enjoy the unveiling of Island Folk Cider House‘s new cider, Blowing Raspberries! This cider takes its name from the poem by Hannah Vincent of Truro, NS, the winner of the Island Folk Micro-Writing Contest.

The Halifax launch was Tuesday, Apr 25 (starting 7pm), at Café Lara (2347 Agricola Street, Halifax). Attendees heard Hannah’s poem (as well as contest entries from six other entrants), read “Blowing Raspberries” from the gorgeous label of its eponymous cider, and sampled the cider’s notes of apple, raspberry, and rose petal. They also had the chance to order the cider from Island Folk Cider House, with next-day delivery offered to most of HRM.

"Blowing Raspberries" by Hannah Vincent, printed on Island Folk label designed by Alison Uhma

A very big thank you to Island Folk’s Jill McPherson, Mike Okell, and Alison Uhma—designer of the label on which “Blowing Raspberries” will appear—for partnering with the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia on this contest. Another very big thank you to Café Lara for their partnership in hosting the launch.

And congratulations to Hannah and to the remaining shortlisted writers: Barbara Lounder, Faith Farrell, Jamie Samson, and Sherry D. Ramsey!

Launch of Island Folk’s Blowing Raspberries Read More »

Meet the 2023 Elizabeth Venart Prize recipient

Award News

Roberta McGinn says winning the 2023 Elizabeth Venart Prize is the “pinnacle of delight.”

The Elizabeth Venart Prize was created in recognition of the unique barriers to literary creation faced by women and other marginalized genders. Through the prize, the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) seeks to provide emerging writers with a unique opportunity for focused advancement of their writing projects and careers.

The prize comes with a $1,000 cheque, consultations with a mentor for the purposes of advice and feedback, and free enrollment in one of WFNS’s creative writing workshops.

“I’m grateful and utterly astonished,” says Roberta, 70, who is retired as a disability manager for the Workers’ Compensation Board. She lives in Dartmouth with her husband, dog, and two cats. “Now I don’t have to worry so much about having to go through December without a pay cheque.”

Since 2017, when she joined WFNS, Roberta has taken several writing workshops, so many that “I feel I’ve done a degree in creative writing.” She tries to write every day, and has been working on a fiction manuscript for several years.

With the supports received through the Venart Prize, she is hoping to concentrate on finishing her manuscript and, “oh, maybe getting it published.”

Created in 2021, the endowment for the Elizabeth Venart Prize was established through the generous support of the Venart family and individual donors. It is named in memory of Elizabeth Venart, a writer and mother. When she died in 2008, much of her writing remained unfinished.

WFNS continues fundraising efforts for the endowment—most successfully through the sale of Promptly: a miscellany of writing tips & tales from Nova Scotian authors. Beautifully designed and printed by Gaspereau Press, Promptly is available through the WFNS Gift Shop.

Speech language pathologist Trina Warner, a nonfiction writer, was the inaugural winner of the Elizabeth Venart Prize.

Meet the 2023 Elizabeth Venart Prize recipient Read More »

Postcard Story Contest winners

Award News

Congratulations to the winners of our 3rd annual Postcard Story Contest!

1st: “The love I did not see” by Lisandra N. Hernandez

Lisandra N. Hernandez has always had a passion for writing. She enjoys drawing from personal emotions and experiences to connect with readers and empathize through story telling. Her personal values center around kindness —what we owe to each other by virtue of being human and sharing the human experience. As the daughter of an immigrant single mother, she is no stranger to adversity and struggle, and she owes these hardships a great deal, for they allowed her to build resiliency and strength. When she is not writing, Lisandra enjoys spending time with her husband and friends, reading philosophy, playing sports, practicing law, and watching romantic comedies.

Runner-up: “Dear Thieves” by Elizabeth Murphy

Elizabeth is a retired university professor, researcher, and author of one academic book and more than 100 academic articles. In addition to her academic writing, she is the author of An Imperfect Librarian, a novel published by Breakwater Books in 2008. Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading, described the novel as “[s]plendid, clever and entertaining.” In 2009, Elizabeth was a featured author at the Winterset Festival in the New Voices category. In the same year, she was an invited author at the Canterbury Tales Literary Festival in Saint John, New Brunswick, along with writers Kenneth Harvey and Donna Morrissey. She is a member of both the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. Although born in Newfoundland, she has been a resident of Nova Scotia since 2019.

Runner-up: “Frugality” by Christina McRae

Rosalie Osmond is the published author of five books, three non-fiction and two fiction. Both novels were nominated for the Dartmouth book award. She has also won the Rita Joe Poetry Prize.

Congrats also to the remaining finalists: Leslie Hennen, Melanie Hobbs, Beth Ann Knowles, Kevin MacDonell, Dana C Mount, Magi Nams, and Michelle Samson.

READ THE WINNING STORIES

Postcard Story Contest winners Read More »

2022 Nova Scotia Book Awards celebration

Award News

Nova Scotian books took centre stage at the inaugural Nova Scotia Book Awards ceremony, held Monday night (June 6) at Halifax City Hall.

“Everyone looks so nice!” said Lindsay Ruck, the evening’s emcee, as she surveyed the packed room of mask-wearing attendees.

The event started with the presentation of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Awards for Nonfiction and Fiction. Named for his parents, the first book awards were introduced by Mayor Mike Savage, who bemoaned that while growing up the seven Savage kids received books at Easter instead of chocolate like other kids in the neighborhood. “Books in our house were a big deal,” he said.

Joanne Gallant received Margaret and John Savage First Book Awards for Nonfiction for her memoir about miscarriage and motherhood, A Womb in the Shape of a Heart, while Colin Sweets Arsenault claimed the debut fiction award for his novel, Short Mercy. The win started off a busy week for Sweets Arsenault; he’s getting married on Saturday.

The new event introduced a new award: the George Borden Writing for Change Award. Previously the Dartmouth Book Award for Nonfiction, this award is for an outstanding nonfiction book by a Nova Scotian author that inspires others and challenges the status quo. It is named for the late George Borden (1935–2020). The first winner of the George Borden Writing for Change Award is Glen Canning for My Daughter Rehtaeh Parsons. “It has a special meaning to me to know a tragic story can inspire others to take a stand against injustice and commit to making our communities a safer place for us all,” said Canning.

Sharon Robart-Johnson received the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction for her meticulously researched novel Jude and Diana, inspired by the true story of an enslaved teenager’s murder in 19th century Nova Scotia. A delighted Robart-Johnson said she submitted her manuscript three times before it was accepted and so couldn’t believe she was even nominated when she first got the news. “When I got the email, I forwarded it to my editor to ask if it was real,” she said. “This means the world to me.”

Veteran journalist Stephen Kimber took home the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award for his biography of Alexa McDonough, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadian Politics. Jury remarks praised Kimber’s storytelling in presenting “the remarkable journey of a legend.”

Joanne Gallant
Colin Sweets Arsenault
Sharon Robart-Johnson
Stephen Kimber

All photos courtesy of Samson Learn and Support4Culture

Until now, Nova Scotia didn’t have its own provincial literary awards celebration, as all the book awards for Nova Scotia authors were presented as part of the Atlantic Book Awards.

The new event separates Nova Scotia-only literary awards from those awards open to writers from all four Atlantic provinces, shining a more focused spotlight on Nova Scotia authors and books and bringing the province in line with the other three Atlantic provinces, each of which has its own provincial book awards celebration.

Here is the full list of winners as presented:

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction)
Joanne Gallant, A Womb in the Shape of a Heart: My Story of Miscarriage and Motherhood (Nimbus Publishing)

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
Colin Sweets Arsenault, Short Mercy (Pottersfield Press)

George Borden Writing for Change Award
Glen Canning (with Susan McClelland), My Daughter Rehtaeh Parsons (Goose Lane Editions)

Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
Sharon Robart-Johnson, Jude and Diana (Fernwood Publishing)

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award
Stephen Kimber, Alexa!: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics (Goose Lane Editions)

Literary events continue all week, culminating with the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on Thursday, June 9, 7 pm at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library. For tickets or to catch the livestream, please see atlanticbookawards.ca.

Partners & Investors

The Nova Scotia Book Awards is a partnership between the Dartmouth Books Awards Committee and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, with support from the Atlantic Book Awards Society. The Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards is grateful for generous funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage; Support4Culture; and the University of King’s College.

Dartmouth Book Awards logo
WFNS Atlantic Book Awards
nsflag_colour
University of King's College

2022 Nova Scotia Book Awards celebration Read More »

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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization first, copyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca