Eden Robinson, Tanya Tagaq longlisted for 2019 Sunburst Awards for Canadian fantasy writing
Jane van Koeverden | | Posted: June 12, 2019 6:24 PM | Last Updated: June 12, 2019
Eden Robinson's novel Trickster Drift and Tanya Tagaq's debut Split Tooth are among the 14 books longlisted for the 2019 Sunburst Award, an annual literary prize that celebrates Canadian literature of the fantastic.
Both are longlisted in the adult fiction category, which comes with a prize of $1,000.
Robinson's Trickster Drift is the second in her series about a teenage Indigenous boy named Jared who attempts to outrun his magical parentage while taking care of the loved ones in his life. An adaptation of this series is headed to CBC-TV for 2020.
Tagaq's novel Split Tooth follows a young girl's upbringing in 1970s Nunavut, a place of mythic natural wonders as well as violence and addiction. The Inuk musician's first novel has been collecting accolades since being published in September, including nominations for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Here's the full adult fiction longlist:
- Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn
- One of Us by Craig DiLouie
- Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield
- The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson
- The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken
- The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
- Annex by Rich Larson
- An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim
- Witchmark by C.L. Polk
- Foe by Iain Reid
- Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
- Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax
- Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
- Our Animal Hearts by Dania Tomlinson
In the young adult fiction category, which also offers a $1,000 prize, Oshawa, Ont.-based writer Wesley King is nominated for A World Below. The book follows a Grade 8 class field trip gone awry when the students find themselves trapped in an underground lake after an earthquake.
The full young adult fiction longlist includes:
- Super! by Jennifer Chen
- Ruthless Magic by Megan Crewe
- North to Benjamin by Alan Cumyn
- Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
- Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
- A World Below by Wesley King
- Black Chuck by Regan McDonell
- Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer
- Children of Daedala by Caighlan Smith
- Antilia: Sword and Song by Kate Story
- Feeder by Patrick Weekes
- Worldshaper by Edward Willett
- The Ruinous Sweep by Tim Wynne-Jones
The jury for this year's prizes for the novel categories are Greg Bechtel, Janie Chang, Susan Forest, Kari Maaren and Susan Reynolds.
The winners will be announced in the fall of 2019.