Madeleine Thien nominated for Quebec Writers' Federation literary award
Jane van Koeverden | CBC | Posted: July 13, 2017 6:18 PM | Last Updated: July 13, 2017
The Quebec Writers' Federation has announced the finalists for their 2016 QWF Literary Awards. The prizes honour English-language writers from Quebec in six categories, with cash prizes of $2,000 each.
Madeleine Thien has made the shortlist for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. Her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a generations-spanning epic following a group of classical musicians caught up in China's Cultural Revolution. The novel also sitting on the shortlists for the Man Booker Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction.
McGill University neurologist Liam Durcan is among Thien's fellows on the shortlist for his third novel, The Measure of Darkness. The book tells the story of an architect attempting to resume his life and career after waking up from a coma.
Bestselling writer Daniel Levitin, another McGill University professor, is nominated for the book A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age. The book illustrates how to separate lies from truth in the digital age, as statistics and information are easily - and often - misconstrued.
Award-winning nonfiction writer Taras Grescoe is nominated for his latest book, Shanghai Grand. Through the lives of three titular figures - a real estate baron, a globetrotting party girl and an opium-addicted poet - the book paints a picture of the city of Shanghai in the 1930s.
Check out the list of finalists of each category below.
Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction:
- The Measure of Darkness by Liam Durcan
- The Poet is a Radio by Jack Hannan
- Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
- Rich and Poor by Jacob Wren
Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction:
- Shanghai Grand by Taras Grescoe
- A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age by Daniel J. Levitin
- Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel
Concordia University First Book Prize:
- Small Fires by Kelly Norah Drukker
- Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
- Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel
A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry:
- Saint Twin by Sarah Burgoyne
- Small Fires by Kelly Norah Drukker
- Redrafting Winter by Alison Strumberger & Gillian Sze
QWF Prize for Children's Literature: Picture Books and Beginner Readers:
- Oscar Lives Next Door by Bonnie Farmer, illustrated by Marie Lafrance
- This Is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad
- Bug in a Vacuum by Mélanie Watt
Prix de traduction de la Fondation Cole - anglais-français:
- Petits théâtres by Daniel Canty
- Joshua by Lori Saint-Martin & Paul Gagné
- Solomon Gursky by Lori Saint-Martin & Paul Gagné
The winners will be announced at an awards gala on Nov. 22, 2016, at Corona Theatre in Montreal.