Kathy Page announced as BC Book Prize fiction finalist

We're thrilled to announce that Kathy Page's Paradise & Elsewhere, already boasting a 2014 Giller nod, is now a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Other finalists include Michael Springate, Caroline Adderson, Brian Payton, and Aislinn Hunter. Adderson's upcoming novel, A History of Forgetting, will be released by Biblioasis this spring. Congratulations to all the finalists!

Happy 10th: Douglas Glover on Adderson, Barnes, Blaise, Flood, Helwig, Jernigan, Rooke, Smith and ... well ... Biblioasis

Below in the first of a series of appreciations that have begun to come in from readers as part of Biblioasis's 10th anniversary highlighting the important writers and books from Biblioasis's past.  More will follow, at 2-3 per week, over the next several months.

Biblioasis is a life boat, rescuing passengers from the sinking (always) ship of a culture steering headlong towards the tsunami of our murky future (the new). Some of the passengers rescued mean a lot to me as a writer, person and thinker. John Metcalf's hilarious early fiction, anything by the astonishing Leon Rooke, David Helwig (poetry, fiction, and that amazing Chekhov translation), Clark Blaise -- to tell the truth, not much of the new stands up to these giants. Of the newer variety, Caroline Adderson and Cynthia Flood will be read long after the deluge. I deeply admire the elegance and wit of Russell Smith and, of course, there is the often overlooked Mike Barnes, a Canadian original, a world original. And the holy poetry of Amanda Jernigan. These are my companions in the night. --Douglas Glover

Further appreciations can be sent to Dan Wells at dwells@biblioasis.com, and will be published on Thirsty and elsewhere in due course.

Caroline Adderson wins Gold Medal for Fiction at National Magazine Awards

Canadian Notes & Queries is very proud to announce that this year’s Gold Medal for Fiction at the National Magazine Awards went to Caroline Adderson for her story “Ellen-Celine, Celine-Ellen,” published in issue 86. The Silver Medal went to Patrick deWitt for “The Looking-Ahead Artist,” published in Brick; Lynn Coady also received honourable mention for “Dogs in Clothes” (Canadian Notes & Queries 85). CNQ was the only magazine to be recognized twice in the fiction category, while Caroline Adderson (who received further honourable mention for “I Feel Lousy,” published in Eighteen Bridges) was the only twice-recognized story writer.

The National Magazine Awards Foundation is a bilingual, not-for-profit institution whose mission is to recognize and promote excellence in the content and creation of Canadian print and digital publications through an annual program of awards and national publicity efforts. It presented the awards for its 36^th annual celebration at a gala in Toronto at The Carlu, hosted by Canadian actor Zaib Shaikh. Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention awards were presented in 47 categories. This year the judges received over 2000 submissions from nearly 200 Canadian consumer magazines.

On behalf of Canadian Notes & Queries we would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all award recipients. For subscription rates and information about the magazine please contact Tara Murphy at tmurphy@biblioasis.com. 

CNQ shortlisted for National Magazine Awards

Congratulations are in order to Lynn Coady and Caroline Adderson, whose short stories published in Canadian Notes & Queries Magazine have been shortlisted for the National Magazine Awards.

Lynn Coady's "Dogs in Clothes," which appeared in CNQ 85 and Caroline Adderson's "Ellen-Celine, Celine-Ellen," which appeared in CNQ 86, both made the cut along with six other works of fiction published in Canadian magazines this year.

Further congratulations go to the numerous other Biblioasis authors who were shortlisted for various National Magazine awards, including Patricia Young in both the "One of a Kind" and Poetry categories, Lorna Jackson in the Fiction category, Russell Smith in the Personal Journalism category, and Robyn Sarah in the Poetry category.

The winners will be announced at the National Magazine Awards Gala June 7th at the Carlu in Toronto. For more information, head over to magazine-awards.com.

Good luck to all our finalists!

Malarky at the People's Co-op

As promised, here's a photo-tour of AK's launch yesterday in Vancouver. Many thanks to the wonderful folks at the Co-op for helping put together such a marvellous event (and especial thanks to Grandma Suzu, who provided the goodies, and possibly some teacups?). Take a look! (And if you're playing Spot-the-Author, have a snoop at the second photo especially. Who's that there? Annabel Lyon? Caroline Adderson? Golly.)


AK Reads


& The World Listens

Russell Smith's Diana, and the Bestseller list

Russell Smith's Diana: A Diary in the Second Person, a pornographic novel he published earlier this year with Biblioasis, has finally hit the bestseller lists in that sexiest of all Canadian cities, Calgary, Alberta. If you want proof, you can check here:

www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/booksandthearts/story.html?id=bf4327cc-30b5-4b6f-9d94-4e9e5bc1235a

Number 9, but, hey, it counts! Notice it's the only book they don't give a one line synopsis of, letting the subtitle do all of the work. I WONDER WHY. Perhaps "A story about a woman's sexual conquest of an unnamed city" was a bit much for the arts section.

Elsewhere, if you haven't read Russell's column on Caroline Adderson and the short story, from yesterday's Globe, please do so. You can find it here:

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080612.wrussell12/BNStory/Entertainment

Caroline is one of my favourite writers, one of the best in the country -- even her two kids books are fabulous. (We've just finished reading I, Bruno in this household for the second time, and look set to start Very Serious Children a 2nd time as well. Both boys are already showing signs of having exceptional taste.) Her latest collection of stories Pleased To Meet You is everything Russell says it is. It's probably not on the shelves too many places these days, as it's been 20 months or so since it was originally released, but you can special order it or get it at amazon.ca. If you love short fiction and have not read her, I envy you the treat of discovery.

We published a profile of Caroline Adderson a couple of issues ago in CNQ. I'll get it up on the web soon.

But back to my original point:

BIBLIOASIS: PUBLISHERS OF BESTSELLING PORNOGRAPHY SINCE LAST WEEK.