Atwater Library hosts readings by Governor General’s award finalists

Eight of the finalists for this year’s Governor General’s Literary Awards in Englishand French-language poetry will read from their works Thursday evening at the Atwater Library. The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. The reading will begin at 7 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The Atwater Library and Computer Centre, as the facility is known, is at 1200 Atwater Ave.

Award nominees who will be on hand are: Julie Bruck, who will read from her latest book, Monkey Ranch; Corinne Chevarier, reading from Anatomie de l’objet; Hélène Dorion, reading from Coeurs, comme livres d’amour; David McGimpsey, reading from Li’l Bastard; Lisa Pasold, reading from Any Bright Horse; James Pollock reading from Sailing to Babylon; Christian Saint-Germain, reading from Tomahawk; and Maude Gagnon Smith reading from Un Drap. Une Place.

The books will be available for sale.

Award finalists A.F. Mor- itz, nominated for The New Measures, and Fredric Gary Comeau, nominated for Souffles, are unable to attend. “However, we trust they will be with us metaphorically,” said the library’s online announcement.

The event is underwritten by the Canada Council for the Arts, which for the second year chose the Atwater Library as the venue for the reception and reading. It is being hosted by the Atwater Poetry Project, a poet-led reading series that has been running since 2004; its current leader is Darren Bifford. The library, a partner in the initiative, provides the venue as well as administrative and communication services.

For a schedule of readings, go to the library’s website (www.atwaterlibrary.ca) and click on Events.

For more on the Governor General’s Literary Awards, which cover categories including English- and Frenchlanguage fiction, non-fiction and drama, in addition to poetry, go to www.ggbooks. canadacouncil.ca.

The names of the finalists were announced Oct. 2; the winners will be announced Nov. 13.