Kaan claims prize

Winnipeg writer Michael Kaan has won the 2018 Amazon.ca First Novel Award for The Water Beetles and with it a $40,000 prize.

The Water Beetles, loosely based on the diaries of Kann’s own father, tells the story of a family as they look to survive the 1941 Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. Published by Goose Lane Editions, The Water Beetles was also a finalist for the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction.