Frank Macdonald to join book awards panel discussion
Alexander MacLeod hosts an evening with authors in support of Atlantic Book Awards Society
The Atlantic Book Awards Society will host a conversation between renowned Atlantic Canadian writers, Chris Benjamin, Vicki Grant, Frank Macdonald and Laura Penny, with host Alexander MacLeod, on Wednesday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. Tickets are twelve dollars and can be purchased at local bookshops Bookmark, Tattletales and Woozles.
Patrons will be the first to hear the shortlist of books nominated for this year’s Atlantic Book Awards, taking place May 10 to 17 with the final award show in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 17.
Frank Macdonald is the award-winning author of A Forest for Calum, long-listed for the 2007 IMPAC International Dublin Literary Award; a children’s novella; and most recently, the novel, A Possible Madness. A long-time and award-winning columnist, Macdonald’s humorous, often satirical columns in the Inverness Oran have twice been anthologized.
Host Alexander MacLeod’s long-awaited first collection of short fiction, Light Lifting, was shortlisted for the 2010 Giller Prize and won the 2011 Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. MacLeod currently teaches at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Chris Benjamin is a columnist with The Coast and a web writer/editor at CBC. He has written for The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Chronicle Herald, and This Magazine among others, is the author of the acclaimed novel, Drive-by Saviours and the book Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada.
Vicki Grant has been called “a superb storyteller” (The Canadian Children’s Book Centre) and “one of the funniest writers working today” (The Vancouver Sun). Her twelve young adult novels have appeared on shortlists for every major Canadian award and numerous American ones as well.
Laura Penny won a 2011 Atlantic Book Award for More Money Than Brains, a defence of the humanities and social sciences. Her previous book, Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth About Bullshit, is a Canadian bestseller and was named a Globe and Mail Best Book of the year. Her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and The Chronicle Herald. She currently teaches at Mount Saint Vincent University and the University of King’s College.