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Book*hug takes three of 11 spots on longlist for Toronto Book Award

Lee Maracle’s My Conversations With Canadians is longlisted for the Toronto Book Award (Katrina Cervoni)

For the first time in the prize’s 44-year history, the Toronto Book Awards have publicly announced its longlist.

According to a tweet from the awards, this year’s jurors – artist and writer Nathan Adler, journalist Susan G. Cole, novelist Kevin Hardcastle, poet and playwright Soraya Peerbaye, and author, storyteller, and bookstore owner Itah Sadu – “were so impressed with 2018 submissions they elected to release a longlist for the first time.”

Small press Book*hug leads the pack with three nominated titles: The Unpublished City, a collection of works of emerging Toronto writers selected by past award-winner Dionne Brand; The Videofag Book, co-edited by Jordan Tannahill and William Ellis; and Lee Maracle’s essay collection, My Conversations With Canadians. Other notable titles include Michael Redhill’s Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning novel Bellevue Square and Governor General’s Literary Award finalist Kerri Sakamoto’s new book Floating City.

The full 2018 longlist:

  • The More, by Ronna Bloom (Pedlar Press)
  • The Unpublished City, Dionne Brand, ed. (Book*hug)
  • Brother, by David Chariandy (McClelland & Stewart)
  • The Bone Mother, by David Demchuk (ChiZine Publications)
  • Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity, by Jamil Jivani (HarperCollins)
  • That Time I Loved You, by Carrianne Leung (HarperCollins)
  • My Conversations with Canadians, by Lee Maracle (Book*hug)
  • The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, by Daniel McPherson (Dundurn)
  • Bellevue Square, by Michael Redhill (Doubleday Canada)
  • Floating City, by Kerri Sakamoto (Knopf Canada)
  • The Videofag Book, by Jordan Tannahill and William Ellis (Book*hug)

The five-title shortlist will be announced Aug. 9, with each finalist receiving $1,000. The $10,000 grand prize, which recognizes literary work that is “evocative of Toronto,” will be presented Oct. 10 at a free public ceremony at the Toronto Reference Library.

By: Ryan Porter

July 12th, 2018

3:52 pm

Category: Awards, Industry News

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