May 9, 2012
For Immediate Release
SHORT LIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2011 DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD
The Writers' Union of Canada is pleased to announce the short list of nominees for the fifteenth annual DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD. The Award recognizes the best first English-language collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2011. The Award consists of cash prizes for the three best first collections, with a first prize of $10,000 and two additional prizes of $500.
The jury this year was composed of authors Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Robin McGrath, and Hal Niedzviecki, who determined the short list from 36 collections submitted, some by seasoned writers, others by authors being published for the first time. Those finalists are:
Andrew J. Borkowski, Copernicus Avenue, Cormorant Books
Daniel Griffin, Stopping for Strangers, Véhicule Press
Johanna Skibsrud, This Will Be Difficult to Explain, Hamish Hamilton Canada
Jessica Westhead, And Also Sharks, Cormorant Books
Ian Williams, Not Anyone’s Anything, Freehand Books (an imprint of Broadview Press)
The winners will be announced in Toronto on Thursday, June 7, 2012 at a morning press conference at Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay Street.
The Award was created as a celebration of the life of Danuta Gleed, a writer whose short fiction won several awards before her death in December 1996. Danuta Gleed’s first collection of short fiction, One of the Chosen, was posthumously published by BuschekBooks. The Award is made possible through a generous donation from John Gleed, in memory of his late wife, and is administered by The Writers’ Union of Canada.
The Writers’ Union of Canada is our country’s national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well-being of all writers.
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For additional information
Kelly Duffin, Executive Director
The Writers’ Union of Canada
416.703.8982 Ext. 221
kduffin@writersunion.ca
www.writersunion.ca
Jury Comments on the Finalists for the 2011 DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD
Andrew J. Borkowski, Copernicus Avenue (Cormorant Books)
In Copernicus Avenue – a vivid, powerful depiction of the Polish immigrant community in Toronto – Borkowski does for Roncesvalles what Joyce did for Dublin. The stories explore how memories of war imprison even succeeding generations. Whether offering the reader the compelling drama of a bomber trying to land in fog or the history of a cooking pot, Borkowski’s large, encompassing view of the world and how big events shape the lives of ordinary people is both unflinching and tender.
Daniel Griffin, Stopping for Strangers (Véhicule Press)
These are Carver-esque stories with a little Richard Ford and Tobias Wolff thrown in for good measure. Griffin gives us stripped down, often first person narratives about the many ways we fail ourselves, and our relationships. He quickly gets to the heart of the matter in precise, plain language; classic story- telling and very clean writing are the hallmarks here. This is an impressive first book.
Johanna Skibsrud, This Will Be Difficult to Explain (Hamish Hamilton Canada)
Skibsrud’s collection is unambiguous and cerebral, and charged with literary depth. Her stories cover a wide range of characters and settings, detailing events as disparate as the death of a prize-winning bull and an imaginative child gone missing for an afternoon. Embedded in writing that is exquisitely tuned throughout, the epiphanies here are often quiet and understated, but the effects of the stories last long after the book has been put down.
Jessica Westhead, And Also Sharks (Cormorant Books)
Served up in energetic, quirky, and playful prose, these urban, delightfully twisted stories about souls who just don’t fit in are set in the familiar anonymity of the office cubicle or the lonely middle-aged lady’s apartment. Westhead makes you care about people lost in the all too familiar traps of postmodern life. To make a reader care about the everyday nothingness that surrounds us, without giving that nothingness redemptive qualities, is a fascinating accomplishment.
Ian Williams, Not Anyone’s Anything (Freehand Books, an imprint of Broadview Press)
The writing in Not Anyone’s Anything is fresh, funny, and intelligent. This is a solid first book with gripping, convincing dialogue, a fluid sense of urbanity, and structural innovation that doesn’t come off as trickery. You see the poet here, in the crisp choice of language and even in the line breaks, as Williams uses typography and unusual layout to suggest a split-screen view of life. This is a brilliant collection.
