City lit award finalists announced
The 28th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards set for Dec. 16 on Cable 14 and streamed online
The finalists for the 28th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards, to be presented Dec. 16, have been announced, and they’re a healthy mix of the well-known and established with the new and emerging.
Names like Gary Barwin, Sally Cooper, Jane Christmas, Dave Haskins, Amanda Leduc, Sylvia Nickerson and Jeffery Donaldson are in the company of such rising talents as Karen Quevillon, Jennifer Maruno, Ross Belot, Dorothy Ellen Palmer, Brent van Staalduinen and Bruce Simpson.
The awards, which are put on by Hamilton Arts Council in partnership with Cable 14, celebrate excellence in works published in 2019 and 2020 from the Greater Hamilton Area.
“Our authors, publishers, and independent booksellers are vital to ongoing learning, storytelling, and knowledge sharing throughout the Greater Hamilton Area,” says HAC programs and community engagement co-ordinator, David Hudson.
This year’s awards will be hosted by Hamiltonian Senjuti Sarker, whose practice includes arts programming, theatre, and library work. She has been involved with The AMY Project, The Toronto Fringe, and Hamilton Fringe, and recently was part of a professional development series panel on Building Professional Pathways in Theatre. She is also public programming co-ordinator with the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
The finalists are:
In the Poetry category — David Haskins for “Blood Rises”; Ross Belot for “Moving to Climate Change Hours”; Gary Barwin for “For It Is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe.”
In the Non-Fiction category — Amanda Leduc for “Disfigured”; Dorothy Ellen Palmer for “Falling For Myself”; Jeffery Donaldson for “Viaticum.”
In the Fiction category — Sylvia Nickerson for “Creation”; Karen Quevillon for “The Parasol Flower”; Jennifer Maruno for “Until Niagara Falls”; Sally Cooper for “With My Back to the World.”
In the Kerry Schooley Book Award — Brent van Staalduinen for “Boy”; Ross Belot for “Moving to Climate Change Hours”; Jane Christmas for “Open House: A Life in Thirty-Two Moves”; Bruce Simpson for “Paislee and the Talking Tree”; Sally Cooper for “With My Back to the World.”
The 28th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards are sponsored by Cable 14, Hamilton Public Library, Judy Marsales Real Estate Ltd, Epic Books, and First Ontario Credit Union.
You can watch the announcement of the award recipients which will be broadcast Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. on Cable 14 and streaming online at cable14.com, with repeat broadcast dates to be announced. Following the premiere, on-demand viewing will be available exclusively for Cogeco and Rogers television subscribers at cable14.com.