14th Annual Writers’ Trust Awards

Last night, the 14th Annual Writers’ Trust Awards was held at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. The following award winners were announced:

  • Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
  • Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize
  • Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award
  • Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People
  • Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life
  • Writers’ Trust / McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize

Cary FaganCongratulations to Cary Fagan on being this year’s recipient of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People. This award honours a Canadian author of children’s literature whose body of work is judged to demonstrate the highest literary standards.

Cary Fagan is an award-winning author for children. His kids’ books include the popular Kaspar Snit novels and the picture book Mr. Zinger’s Hat, for which he won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the IODE Jean Throop Award. He has won the Jewish Book Award, and been shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award (five times), the Rocky Mountain Book Award (twice), the Hackmatack Award (twice), the Norma Fleck Award, the Shining Willow Award, and others. Fagan is also the author of six novels and three short story collections for adults. He was born and raised in Toronto, where he lives with his family.

Here are some of Cary Fagan’s publications with Tundra:
Mr. Zinger’s Hat (2012)
Ella May and the Wishing Stone (2011)
Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (2009)
Thing-Thing (2008)
Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit (2008)
Directed by Kaspar Snit (2007)
My New Shirt (2007)
Ten Old Men and a Mouse (2007)
The Fortress of Kaspar Snit (2004)
Beyond the Dance: A Ballerina’s Life (with Chan Hon Goh) (2002)
Daughter of the Great Zandini (2001)
The Market Wedding (2000)
Gogol’s Coat (1999)

Beyond the Dance Daughter of the Great Zandini Directed by Kaspar Snit Ella May and the Wishing Stone Gogol's Coat Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas Mr Zingers Hat My New Shirt Ten Lesson for Kaspar Snit Ten Old Men and a Mouse The Fortress of Kaspar Snit The Market Wedding Thing-Thing

“Organic prose and authentic dialogue are defining features of Cary Fagan’s prolific body of work, which covers the range of children’s genres from picture books to novels. With a kid’s eye-view Fagan navigates the ups and downs of life with genuine warmth and a wry sense of humour. His stories perambulate a landscape of small adventures, creating moments of epiphany for his characters that ultimately alter and shift their lens on the world. Magic animates his narratives and its transformative power is Fagan’s instrument for constructing a child’s imaginative space, allowing the reader to find themselves in the story. Nuanced and understated in both semantics and voice, Fagan’s stories are a perfect balance between the comic and the dramatic. Artfully rendered narratives and exquisite syntax make each of his tales pearls of meaningful simplicity. Fagan is a master storyteller.” – Jury Citation

The goal of the Metcalf Foundation is to enhance the effectiveness of people and organizations working together to help Canadians imagine and build a just, healthy and creative society. Vicky Metcalf created this award in 1963 to stimulate the writing of literature for Canadian children. She held a passion for storytelling and published several children’s books. The prize has been administered by the Writers’ Trust since 2002.

We would like to thank the jurors – Gwyneth Evans, Susan Perren, and Joanne Schwartz – for all their work. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and cheered for Cary Fagan. Finally, thank you to the Sponsors, Board of Directors, Authors’ Committee, and the staff at Writers’ Trust of Canada.

Splash Into Summer Giveaway Winner

Thank  you for joining us for the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners! Did you have fun?

Before we announce the winner of the prize pack, I asked my colleagues to share some of their favourite frozen treats during the summer, and here’s what they had to say:

“Soft vanilla ice cream… Yum!” – Alison
“A lime slushy.” – Kathryn
“A creamsicle!” – Pamela
“Ice cream sandwiches!” – Sylvia (that’s me)

Okay, time to add all our subscribers and comment entries, pull up the magical random generator, and it tells us…

Number #177, congratulations to Sherry S, who enjoys fruit slushes during the hot summer weather!

Please check your inbox for an e-mail from us. You will be getting our Splash into Summer prize pack:

THANKS AGAIN to everyone who participated!

Splash Into Summer

We’re celebrating summer with the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners. Thank you for joining us!

What do you have to do to enter? Leave a comment below telling us your favourite frozen treat during the summer. Our e-mail subscribers are automatically entered to win. If you haven’t subscribed yet, do so for one extra entry. Simply enter and verify your e-mail using the Subscribe widget at the top, right corner of this blog.

Details: This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the U.S.A. only. Please read our rules for more information.

Dates: This giveaway starts on Wednesdays, May 25, 2011 and ends on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at midnight. One winner will be selected and announced on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 to receive the prize pack.

Splash into reading with our prize pack:

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
By Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Hardcover | 112 pages
Ages 8-11 years
ISBN 978-0-88776-895-8
eBook 978-1-77049-071-0
“Fagan has produced a lively tale of pirates, transatlantic voyages, and the usual heedless parents…” – Books for Young People: Books of the Year, Quill & Quire


Into the Ravine
By Richard Scrimger
Trade Paperback | 264 pages
Ages 11+
ISBN 978-0-88776-822-4
“Scrimger is a deft and funny storyteller who understands early adolescent boys, their dreams, and their realities…. A funny, scary, exciting, and spot-on adventure.” –Booklist

Would You
By Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 176 pages
Ages 9-12 years
HC ISBN 978-0-88776-816-3
TR ISBN 978-1-77049-223-3
eBook 978-1-77049-022-2
“The opening chapters give little hints of the intensity of Jocelyn’s…exquisitely honed novel…. Although the plot line sounds like that of a standard weeper, the author resists the urge to magnify emotions. Natalie reacts honestly, neither beautifully nor nobly…. The light touch with which Jocelyn handles her difficult material is best seen when Claire is declared brain-dead and taken off life support: the humanity in the author’s treatment affords the readers a sense both of grief and of peace.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

Giveaway hops are when each blog host their own giveaway, the idea is that you “hop” from one blog to another – perhaps discovering a new blog that you’ll start following. So after you enter our giveaway, hop to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer or Page Turners to visit the next blog!

2009 Book of the Year Award Finalists

ForeWord Reviews announced the finalists in the 2009 Book of the Year Awards. We would like to congratulate the following authors and illustrators on their nominations!

Juvenile Nonfiction Finalist:

A Thousand Years of Pirates
By William Gilkerson
ISBN 9780887769245
96 Pages
“… A Thousand Years of Pirates, manages to preserve the historical reality of pirates while still maintaining the captivating image of pirates that so strongly interests people, especially children…. At the same time, Gilkerson captures the adventure of the high seas in his illustrations. …a great example of how history can be made interesting to young readers….” – ForeWord Reviews

Juvenile Fiction Finalist:

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
By Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
ISBN 9780887768958
112 Pages
“Fagan has produced a lively tale of pirates, transatlantic voyages, and the usual heedless parents…” – Books for Young People: Books of the Year,  Quill & Quire

YA Fiction Finalist:

Vanishing Girl
By Shane Peacock
ISBN 9780887768521
320 Pages
“… The richly descriptive prose offers a vivid sense of both Victorian life and the diverse characters, especially complex, intriguing, and sympathetic Sherlock….” – Booklist

Holiday List of Lists

There are a lot of lists circulating out there. Best-of lists, gift ideas, and reading suggestions for the holidays. Why don’t we make it easier for you? We compiled some of our books that were featured in lists this year!

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
By Lewis Carroll
Illustrated by Oleg Lipchenko
ISBN 978-0-88776-932-0
All Ages
112 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Books for Winter Break (Bookslut); Kids books with a ‘wow’ factor (The Chronicle Herald); Books for children to go under the tree (The Record)

A Big City Alphabet
By Allan Moak
ISBN 978-0-88776-939-9
Ages 4+
32 Pages
Trade Paperback
Listed in: WHERE Magazine’s Holiday Gift Guide (Where Toronto)

Brothers
By Michael Mazo
Illustrated by Michael Soloviov
ISBN 978-0-88776-822-1
All Ages
32 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Holiday gift guide: A survey of some of the hottest adult and children’s books, just in time for your holiday shopping (Kelowna)

Finn the half-Great
By Theo Caldwell
ISBN 978-0-88776-931-3
Ages 11+
392 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Holiday Reads: Deirdre Baker’s Fantasy Books for Kids (The Toronto Star)

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
By Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
ISBN 978-0-88776-895-8
Ages 8-11
112 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Books of the Year 2009: The 15 Books That Mattered (Quill & Quire); Holiday Gift Guide (EYE WEEKLY)

A Mountain Alphabet
By Margriet Ruurs
Illustrated by Andrew Kiss
ISBN 978-0-88776-940-5
Ages 4+
32 Pages
Trade Paperback
Listed in: Brief reviews of books for kids for Christmas (Kelowna)

A Thousand Years of Pirates
By William Gilkerson
ISBN 978-0-88776-924-5
Ages 10+
96 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Kids books with a ‘wow’ factor (The Chronicle Herald); Books for children to go under the tree (The Record); Books Quarterly: Lit for little ones (The National Post)

Vanishing Girl: The Boy Sherlock Holmes – His Third Case
By Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-852-1
Ages 10-14
320 Pages
Hardcover
Listed in: Books Quarterly: Lit for little ones (The National Post)

Are these critic’s picks on your list? Tell us which books you are recommending this holiday season!