Awards celebrate year in local literature

Four Saskatchewan authors are each nominated for three 2019 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

The shortlist was unveiled Thursday in Regina and Saskatoon, during events at each city’s main public library branch.

Debut author Chelsea Coupal, who lives in Regina, is up for three awards, for her poetry book named after her hometown of Sedley.

Fellow poet Randy Lundy, who lives in Pense, is shortlisted in three categories for his book, Blackbird Song. The Small Things That End the World has garnered three nominations for Saskatoon author Jeanette Lynes. The novel is in part set in 1954, when a young babysitter is employed while Hurricane Hazel strikes Toronto.

Lynes was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2009, for her book The Factory Voice.

Saskatoon author Robert Calder’s book A Hero For the Americas is in consideration for three awards.

His non-fiction book is about Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spaniard who was shipwrecked on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in 1512.

He sided with the Mayan people and led the opposition to the Spanish takeover of the Yucatan.

Calder’s book Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-fiction in 1989.

The latter three authors are each in consideration for Book of the Year, one of 14 categories in the Saskatchewan Book Awards.

Last year’s Book of the Year winner was Regina author Ven Begamudre, for his memoir Extended Families.

Other awards for writers celebrate fiction, non-fiction, scholarly writing, Indigenous peoples, first book, poetry, young adult literature, writers based in Regina and Saskatoon, and French-language books. There are three awards honouring publishers.

The Saskatchewan Book Awards will be presented on Saturday, April 27, at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina. Victor Sawa, former music director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, will host.

Until the end of March, tickets are $60 and available by calling 306-569-1585 or emailing info@ bookawards.sk.ca.