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Saints alive! Author KD Miller, shortlisted
for the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. |
We're delighted to report that at 10:18 this morning, the Writers’ Trust announced that K.D. Miller’s All Saints was shortlisted
for its $25,000 annual fiction prize. All Saints was the only short fiction collection to be honoured.
Of the book the
jury writes: “From the first page of All
Saints, readers know they’re in the hands of a true writer.
With language both rich and restrained, images both precise and evocative,
Miller entices us into the lives of people who all share a connection to an
Anglican church being slowly deserted. Thanks to the subtle and intricate
structure of the collection, the individual stories knit into a whole,
achieving the effect of a novel, offering portraits of individuals and their tenuous
community that claim a permanent place in our minds, and leaving us grateful
for K.D. Miller’s artistry.”
Nor, as Thirsty readers will know, are the
members of the Writers’ Trust jury—Neil Bissoondath, Helen Humphreys and George
Murray—the only ones to note the grace of Miller’s artistry. Maclean’s, in a review whose inch-high headline exclaimed “Hallelujah! A
Canadian Classic is Born,” observed that “Miller’s genius, like that of
Alice Munro, is wringing suspense—and poignancy—from the quotidian ... Plots
and characters link in haunting and astounding ways.” In a starred review, Quill & Quire calls All Saints “the work of
a writer with a confident voice and a clear vision.” Publishers Weekly observes that
Miller “has an ease of style that produces elegant turns of phrase.” And the National Post, who excitedly asserts that Miller
is “firing on all cylinders,” praises stories “tightly interwoven, their
connections subtle and teasing.”
The other titles other shortlisted titles are Pastoral (Andre Alexis, Coach House Books), The Confabulist (Steven Galloway, Knopf Canada), Girl Runner (Carrie Snyder, House of Anansi), and All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews, Knopf Canada). The winner will receive $25,000, while
each shortlisted author will receive $2,500. The winner will be revealed in
Toronto on November 4th at the Writers’ Trust event in Glenn Gould
Studio. Congratulations to KD and all the other nominees!
