2012 Alberta Literary Awards Shortlist Readings
Check out our upcoming shortlist readings in both Calgary (May 16) and Edmonton (May 27).
WordsWorth and InkPulse Registrations Now Open! WGA Launches New Young Writer Website!
Check out our new young writers website (www.youngalbertawriters.com) and register for our youth summer writing camps, WordsWorth and InkPulse!
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Programs & Services: Conference Line-Up
Check out this year's list of keynote speakers, panelists and special guests! Click one of the names below for more information on this year's line-up.
Angie Abdou is a fiction writer and teacher with a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Calgary. BC BookWorld called her short-story collection (Anything Boys Can Do 2006) “an extraordinary debut” and Victoria Times Colonist praised it for its original and honest take on female sexuality. Her first novel (The Bone Cage 2007) was the inaugural One Book One Kootenay selection, a 2011 Canada Reads finalist, and the 2012 MacEwan Book of the Year. Her most recent novel (The Canterbury Trail 2011) is a dark comedy about mountain culture and was a finalist for the Banff Mountain Book of the Year. Angie lives in Fernie, BC and teaches full-time at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook.
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Todd Babiak has published four novels: Choke Hold (Turnstone), The Garneau Block (McClelland & Stewart), The Book of Stanley (McClelland & Stewart) and Toby: A Man (HarperCollins). His books have been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller and the Rogers Writers Trust Prize and have won the Henry Kreisel Award for best first book, the Georges Bugnet Award for best Alberta novel and the City of Edmonton Book Prize. His latest novel, The South of France, will be published by HarperCollins in October, 2012.
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Sharon Butala has published sixteen books (nine fiction and seven nonfiction) as well as articles and essays, and has had five plays produced. In 1998 she was awarded the Marian Engel prize, and has won a number of other awards and prizes. In 2001 she became an Officer in the Order of Canada and in 2009 received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. Since 2008 she has made her home in Calgary, although she was born and spent most of her seventy years in Saskatchewan, half of them on her husband's land and cattle ranch in southwest Saskatchewan.
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Lynn Coady's fiction has been garnering acclaim since her first novel, Strange Heaven, was published and was nominated for the Governor-General's Award for Fiction when she was 28. Strange Heaven was followed up by a best-selling short story collection, Play the Monster Blind (2000) as well as the award-winning novels Saints of Big Harbour (2002) and Mean Boy 2006). Lynn Coady grew up on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia and now lives in Edmonton, where she is Senior Editor and co-founder of the magazine Eighteen Bridges. Her most recent novel is The Antagonist, which was short-listed for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
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Caitlynn Cummings is the Managing Editor of the Calgary literary magazine filling Station. She has an MSc in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh and writes poetry, fiction, and drama. Her work can be found in the Scottish magazine Drey (Red Squirrel Press), Two in the Bush (Blurb), and everywhere else you least expect it. Follow her on Twitter @Tartaned_Maple.
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Glenn Dixon has travelled through more than sixty countries, writing travel pieces and producing documentary films. His first book Pilgrim in the Palace of Words, released in 2009, is a journey through the languages of the Earth. In Tripping the World Fantastic, his second book, he looks at the music of the world and why, in every culture on the planet, in every culture that’s ever existed, music holds such an insatiable power over us. Dixon has written about Marco Polo for National Geographic magazine. He’s trekked to Bob Marley’s grave in Jamaica and filmed lost tribes in the depths of the Amazon. He’s the author of award winning short stories and has written accounts of the real life Dracula, the original site of the Olympics in ancient Greece and the troubles of Tibet for newspapers and magazines across the country.
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Poet and educator, Jannie Edwards has published three collections of poetry and taught creative writing for many years at Grant MacEwan University before retiring as Associate Dean. Her latest collection, Falling Blues, was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Alberta poetry prize. Her second collection, Blood Opera: The Raven Tango Poems, was adapted for the stage and featured at Workshop West's 2010 Canoe Theatre Festival. She has worked on a number of interdisciplinary projects with visual/video artists and has contributed to community building arts initiatives in Edmonton's Alberta Avenue area and in Mill Woods. Jannie has been the 2011-12 Canadian Authors Association Writer in Residence for Northern Alberta.
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Bio coming soon!...
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Betty Jane Hegerat grew up in central Alberta and has lived in Calgary since 1971. A social worker by profession, she worked in the areas of Child Welfare and adoptions, but since the mid-90s has devoted much of her attention to writing and teaching. Her fiction is underpinned by a deep-rooted love of the Alberta landscape and an obsession with sifting through the messy dynamics of family the secrets and lies in ordinary lives. Her books include two novels, a collection of short stories and The Boy, a work of creative non-fiction. Delivery (Oolichan Books, 2009) was shortlisted for the Georges Bugnet fiction award.
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Barb Howard’s latest book, Western Taxidermy, is a short story collection from NeWest Press. She has published the novels Whipstock (NeWest) and Notes for Monday (Recliner), and the young adult book The Dewpoint Show (Fitzhenry &Whiteside). A fan of Alberta and Alberta publications, Barb is thrilled to have had recent work appear in Alberta Views, FreeFall, Other Voices and The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature. She has also published stories across Canada in magazines like The New Quarterly, Grain and The Dalhousie Review. In the nonfiction realm, Barb is co-editor of the upcoming anthology tentatively titled Embedded on the Homefront: Where Military and Civilian Lives Collide (Heritage House, fall 2012). Barb lives in Bragg Creek, Alberta.
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After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Fraser Valley and a Master of Arts degree at the University of British Columbia, Michelle moved to Calgary in 2008 to become part of the vibrant Calgary Theatre community. Michelle has interests in both text based script development and non-traditional script development. Michelle has worked as the Resident Dramaturg and a freelance dramaturg for the past 3 years and spent 2 years as Artistic Producer with Urban Curvz Theatre. Michelle is a current member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).
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Anne Logan is the Programming Manager at WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival. For the fourth year in a row, she has helped the Festival Director program the WordFest line-up, and can frequently be found at local readings scouting for new talent. Anne received her Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, and her Postgraduate Certificate through the Humber Creative Book Publishing Program in Toronto. Before moving to Calgary, she worked as a publicist for Cormorant Books. She currently blogs about composting for the Calgary Herald, and spends most of her free time reading.
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Alice Major has published nine highly praised poetry collections, three of which have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award, given annually for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. She won the award for The Office Tower Tales in 2009. She has also received the Stephan G. Stephansson Award (for Memory’s Daughter) Her newest book is a collection of essays, “Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science.” She has been president of the League of Canadian Poets, president of the Writers Guild of Alberta and first poet laureate for the city of Edmonton. She is also the founder of the Edmonton Poetry Festival, and this June she will be inducted in the Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame.
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Colin Martin is the President and the Nonfiction Editor of filling Station Magazine. He has previously served on the editorial collectives of filling Station and dANDelion magazines and is the founding editor of NōD Magazine. He teaches techinical writing for the University of Calgary and has worked as a marketing manager and a commercial copywriter for radio and television. He is currently writing a doctoral dissertation on small press poetry publishing in Canada and runs a poetry chapbook press when time allows.
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Suzette Mayr is the author of four novels, including her most recent book Monoceros which was longlisted for the 2011 Giller Prize and nominated for a Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction, and included on The Globe and Mail's 100 Best Books of 2011. Her novels have also been nominated for the regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the ReLit Award, and the Writers Guild of Alberta Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and the Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book. She has done inter-disciplinary work with Calgary theatre company Theatre Junction, visual artists Lisa Brawn and Geoff Hunter, and she was a writer-in-residence at the University of Calgary and at Widener University, Pennsylvania. She is a former President of the Writers' Guild of Alberta and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Calgary.
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Janet McMahen is a private practice psychologist, teacher and writer. Her practice specializes in depression, anxiety, relationship issues and communication. After graduating with a Masters degree in Counselling and Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in New York City, she returned to Calgary to focus her practice on counselling and writing. She has written regularly for FFWD magazine and contributed articles for Calgary’s Child Magazine. She was the recipient of a Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award at Mount Royal College, and is a past winner of the Alberta Anthology Writing Contest.
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Jonathan Meakin is an arts development consultant with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, in which capacity he is responsible for programs and initiatives that support independent filmmakers, writers, and a range of arts organizations. Since emigrating from England twenty years ago, Jonathan has earned degrees in English (with a focus on Canadian literature) from the University of Alberta and the University of Ottawa, and has worked as a communications officer, university instructor, and arts administrator. He writes poetry, fiction, and reviews, dabbles in small press publishing, and is a very busy dad.
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Peter ferrets out manuscripts of interest. This means he’s always interested in topics related to Canadian History, Native Studies, Politics, and Health Studies. He is assisted in this task by his knowledge of African Literature and an enduring passion for history. His most recent scholarly publication is Grappling with the Beast: Indigenous Southern African Responses to Colonialism, 1840–1930, which he co-edited with Peter Limb and Norman Etherington. Peter also writes poetry and children’s books, and performs as a storyteller.
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Andrew Nikiforuk is an award-winning Canadian journalist who has written about education, economics and the environment for the last two decades. His books include Pandemonium, Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War Against Oil, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction and The Fourth Horseman: A Short History of Plagues, Scourges and Emerging Viruses. His book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent won the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award and became a national bestseller. Nikiforuk’s latest book, Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug Are Killing North America’s Great Forests was nominated for a Governor General’s Award in 2011. He lives in Calgary
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Rosemary Nixon is a pre-eminent short story writer, novelist, and free-lance editor. She has won Grain Magazine’s Postcard Competition and has been a winner in Alberta View’s Short Story Competition. Her collection, Mostly Country, a Nunatak Fiction imprint, was shortlisted for the Howard O’Hagan Award. Her collection The Cock’s Egg won the Howard O’Hagan Award. Her novel Kalila is shortlisted for the 2012 Georges Bugnet Award.
Rosemary has received a Fellowship to write at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland, and a scholarship to attend DISQUIET International Literary Festival in Lisbon, Portugal as their Canadian Guest Writer, 2012. She has taught at Sage Hill Writing Experience, and at Anema-by-the-Sea in Greece. She has judged numerous literary competitions, including the Grant MacEwan Award, the CBC Literary Competition, and the Writers' Union of Canada Short Fiction Competition. Rosemary has served as Writer-in-Residence for the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme, and as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Windsor.
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Cathy Ostlere grew up in Winnipeg and has a Bachelor's degree in Literature from the University of Manitoba. She is the author of two books: Lost: A Memoir (Key Porter, 2008) and a Young Adult novel, Karma, (Penguin/Razorbill 2011). She is also the co-writer of the play, Lost: A Memoir, staged by Theatre Calgary, IRT (Indianapolis), Neptune Theatre (Halifax), and PTE (Winnipeg). Karma is a lyrical verse novel set in India during the turbulent weeks following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. Karma is a 2012 Canadian Library Association Honour book and a 2012 American Library Association Booklist Editor's Choice. Cathy has three children and has lived in Calgary since 1985. She is currently at work on two film scripts, a novel, and a second YA novel.
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Tyler B. Perry works as a junior high teacher, and his first book of poetry, Lessons in Falling (2010, B House Publications), explores the world of school, drawing its inspiration from the events, personalities and physical surroundings he encounters in his daily work. Tyler is an active presence in Calgary’s poetry community, and along with a small group of poets, organizes and hosts the Ink Spot Collective monthly poetry slam. He was captain of the 2010 Calgary poetry slam team, was shortlisted for Calgary’s inaugural poet laureate position, and has performed his work at venues across the city. Tyler is an MFA candidate at UBC and continues residing in Calgary with his wife and two young children. You can visit him on the web and read some of his poems at http://tbperry.com/
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Alex Rettie has been reviewing Alberta books for 11 years. He writes Alberta Views magazine’s monthly book column, for which he has reviewed more than 200 reviews. Alex has twice been a nominee for a National Magazine Award. He is the principal of White Arrow Writing and Instructional Services (www.whitearrow.ca), a Calgary instructional design and writing firm. Alex prefers books to people, but makes an exception for his long-suffering wife and their two outstanding sons.
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Rachel Small has varied and extensive experience editing both fiction and non-fiction. As a writer herself, Rachel understands the challenges writers face on a day-to-day basis, and as an editor, she is adamant about ensuring the author’s voice is retained. She frequently attends industry events and seminars and maintains professional and current standards in order to provide her clients the best service possible. She is a board member of both the EAC and CAFE. Now the owner of Faultless Finish Editing, Rachel previously worked in-house as a stylistic editor, copy editor, and proofreader for a local publishing house.
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Chris Turner is one of Canada's leading voices on sustainability and the global cleantech boom. His most recent book, The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy, was published last fall; The Globe and Mail called it "one of the most arresting arguments for building a green economy yet in print." He is also the author of the bestsellers The Geography of Hope and Planet Simpson, and his feature writing has earned seven National Magazine Awards. He is a regular contributor to The Globe & Mail, The Walrus, Alberta Views and Canadian Geographic, and a featured blogger at MNN.com. He lives in Calgary with his wife, the photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their two children.
