Cast Your Vote: All Saints and Paradise & Elsewhere up for 2015 CBC Bookies

Prepare your ballots, dear readers: it is time again for the annual CBC Bookies.

We're pleased to say that this year both All Saints by K.D. Miller and Paradise & Elsewhere by Kathy Page are up for the 2015 Short Story Category! Click here to vote. (Note: if you wish, you can skip categories by pressing the "Next" button). Voting is open until Monday, February 23rd. 

KD Miller's All Saints Shortlisted for Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

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 4^th at the Writers’ Trust event in Glenn Gould Studio.  Congratulations to KD and all the other nominees!

From the Vault: KD Miller in Publishers Weekly

As a little tip-of-the-hat to KD Miller, who will be appearing at Biblioasis Anniversary events this week in Toronto, Waterloo (TODAY!), and Windsor (Tomorrow!), I thought I'd post the review of All Saints that ran in Publishers Weekly in July. If you're still on the fence about coming to see her, I say (with all due politesse): hop the hell off! She's one of SIX amazing readers—and seriously, she's really really good—who will be appearing at the Jazz Club and at the Capitol Theatre. Come on out! 

In this collection of linked short stories, Miller (Brown Dwarf) writes about the lives of the parishioners and affiliates of All Saints Anglican Church in Toronto. Each story focuses on a different character. Simon, the church's rector, appears in many of the stories and is the focus of one that explores his relationship with his suicidal wife and his feelings for someone new. Other standout characters include Emily, a writer; Owen, an outsider who first appears as a background character and later as the main one; and Garth, equal parts real (in the fictional world of the book) and imagined (in Emily's literary imagination). Miller, who has previously published collections of essays, short stories and a novel, has an ease of style that produces elegant turns of phrase. Describing one church member's hesitations towards religious modernization Miller writes, "She prefers her religion distant and monumental." The overlapping narratives weave the stories and recurring themes together. Love, faith, marriage, sex, death, aging, mental illness and the meaning of community are all explored with dignity.

All Saints: A book to watch

Good morning readers, I hope you all had a great weekend and a happy 4th of July!

More praise has been pouring in for KD Miller's All Saints.  This time it was the Midwest Book Review who featured All Saints in their Reviewer's Bookwatch. 

"Expertly crafted short stories that perform an impressive story arc and engage the reader's fascinated attention from first page to last, All Saints is an extraordinary anthology that documents author K.D. Miller as an impressively gifted and original writer ... highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library collections."

Have a great week,

Deirdre

Boyko, Miller in National Post "Shortcuts" Column

What lovelier way is there to canter into the sunset than with a newspaper & some short stories in your saddle roll? Check out this weekend's National Post for Steven Beattie's monthly short fiction column, where he talks about the linked collection as Canadian consommé, calls KD Miller's "Kim's Game" the "Citizen Kane of humiliation," and CP Boyko's "The Prize Jury" a " highly amusing riposte to the culture of literary awards, eviscerating the petty politicking, log-rolling and absurdity that can result from jockeying for recognition." Not bad for a rainy end-of-week, huh? Nice to know that KD and Craig are firing on all cylinders, even if we at the office have a bad collective case of math brain.  Happy Friday!

"Hallelujah! A Canadian Classic is Born"

Well, it's no exaggeration to say that Anne Kingston's review of All Saints in today's issue of Maclean's Magazine is so glowing you may need sunglasses to read it (well, it's actually raining here, but you know what I mean). It was the first review in the section, it was the title review, and it had full banner art. What you see above ("Hallelujah! A Canadian Classic is Born") is the headline. And though it's hard to pull any one sentence out from the others, as the review consists of two full columns of praise, we think you'll agree that this bit is particularly wonderful:

"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. As a collection, the stories reflect the power and purpose of all communities, ecclesiastical or otherwise: read like a novel, they offer multi-faceted perspective and illumination. The result is a Canadian classic. If this book doesn't get a Giller prize nod, something is wrong." (our emphasis).

Our cup runneth over. To get a copy of this wonderful linked collection, get thee to a local indie, and remember also that all Biblioasis books are available for sale directly from our website. Booksellers: our books are distributed, as ever, from Raincoast, and if you're interested in a reading copy, give me a shout and I'd be happy to send one your way: jeckerlin@biblioasis.com.

Happy Wednesday!