The shortlists for the 2014 East Coast Literary Awards have been announced by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. Executive director Jonathan Meakin and president Sylvia Gunnery revealed the nine finalists in three categories, selected from 64 submissions by Atlantic authors.

The finalists are:

J.M Abraham Poetry Award:
Mary Dalton, Hooking (Signal Editions)
Don Domanski, Bite Down Little Whisper (Brick Books)
Sue Goyette, Ocean (Gaspereau Press)

Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award:
John DeMont, A Good Day’s Work (Doubleday Canada)
Richard Foot, Driven (Goose Lane Editions)
Stephen Kimber, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five (Fernwood Publishing)

Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award:
Shashi Bhat, The Family Took Shape (Cormorant Books)
Ed Kavanagh, Strays (Killick Press)
William Kowalski, The Hundred Hearts (Dundurn Press)

Following a series of events and readings by the shortlisted authors, the awards, which celebrate and promote writing from the four Atlantic provinces, will be given out at a ceremony in Halifax on Sept. 20. The winner of the Thomas Raddall award will receive $25,000, while recipients of the other two awards will each take home $2,000.