Adamson, Lee win lucrative book prizes
Gil Adamson and Jessica J. Lee have been named the winners of two of the most prestigious literary awards in Canada. Adamson, has won the $50,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust fiction prize, while Lee has won the $60,000 Hilary Weston prize for non-fiction.
The winners were announced at a the digital event — billed as The Writers’ Trust Awards: Books of the Year Edition — hosted by Kamal Al-Solaylee in a mid-afternoon event that was a marked departure from previous years when the gala was held in the evening at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio.
“Literally my first thought was: there’s the beginning of my next book right there,” said Adamson in a call before the announcement.
(In a change from previous years, when winners found out at a gala the night of the awards, she was told in advance.)
Like most writers, Adamson — who won the prize for her novel “The Ridgerunner,” a literary western and historical mystery set in Alberta in 1917 — says she balances her writing with work she does to pay the rent, leaving her with neither time nor money. “Suddenly I’ve got both,” she quipped.
She prevailed over the four other finalists for the prize: Thomas King and debut novelists Maria Reva, Michelle Good and Zsuzsi Gartner.
Lee wins the $60,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust prize for non-fiction for her memoir “Two Trees Make a Forest,” a memoir that merges the story of her family with the story of her ancestral homeland, Taiwan.
The other four finalists for the prize were: Lorna Crozier, Steven Heighton, Tessa McWatt and David A. Neel.
Ceremonies for the other prizes are being held separately, with the Emerging Writers’ edition held in October and the “Career Honours” edition held Nov. 2.
One thing that was business as usual: the Writers’ Trust is awarding a very large amount of money to Canadian writers through its annual events: $302,000.
Deborah Dundas
Toronto firms to design N.S. gallery
Several Toronto firms are part of the winning team that will design the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Waterfront Arts District.
KPMB Architects won the international competition, along with Toronto’s Omar Gandhi Architect and Public Work, Newfoundland’s Jordan Bennett Studio, Elder Lorraine Whitman of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and Stuttgart’s Transsolar.
The winning gallery design features a peaked hat shape at the entrance, a symbol of the strength, wisdom, love and power of women in Mi’kmaw communities.
“We want people to experience art in a great setting. We want people to feel welcome and at home,” Bruce Kuwabara , founding partner of KPMB, said in a media release. “We believe we have created a place for everyone.”
The gallery and arts district will be located on the Salter Block of the Halifax Waterfront and are meant to have people, art and culture at their core. Garnet Fraser
‘Nutcracker’ moves to screens
The Sugar Plum Fairy will dance across screens instead of National Ballet of Canada stage this year.
The company had to cancel its annual production of “The Nutcracker” for the first time in 65 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a 2008 performance will be shown in more than 50 Cineplex cinemas and online via the Cineplex Store.
“We are thrilled to bring the magic of ‘The Nutcracker’ to the magic of the big screen and into living rooms across Canada,” Brad LaDouceur, Cineplex vice-president of event cinema, said in a news release, while National Ballet artistic director Karen Kain said she was delighted with the partnership.
Cineplex viewers will see Sonia Rodriguez as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Piotr Stanczyk as Piotr/The Nutcracker, along with 48 other dancers, 98 children, 65 musicians and 20 young singers.
It can be streamed Dec. 4 for $29.99 at cineplex.com/Store or seen in theatres for $14.95 per adult ($12.95 for children). Tickets go on sale Wednesday. Garnet Fraser
Parton surprised by vaccine news
Who had Dolly Parton finding the cure for COVID-19 on their 2020 bingo card?
Recent findings from the New England Journal of Medicine have identified the country music legend as a sponsor of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine after she donated to Vanderbilt University’s coronavirus research fund. And Parton seems as surprised as anyone about her role.
“Yeah, that’s what I understand this morning,” she told NBC’s “Today.” “I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good, and evidently it is. Let’s just hope we find a cure real soon.” LosAngeles Times