Thursday, February 19, 2009

Commonweath Writers' Prize Noms Announced

Another year, another list of award nominees. This time it's the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. The prize is awarded to authors from Commonwealth countries, divided into four zones: Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia, Southeast Asia and Pacific. The process is rather extended, but it basically awards winners in each of the zones and then the winners are nominated for the grand prize. Last year's winner was Canadian Lawrence Hill for The Book of Negroes. This year, two notables are Nino Ricci for The Origin of Species, and Fred Stenson for The Great Karoo. The full list of nominees can be found via CBC Books, above, or at the Commonwealth Writers' Prize official site. It's not surprising that the "Canada and Caribbean" section is dominated by Canadians - there's been some great books released in the past 12 months and I anticipate that the grand prize will go to a Canadian again this year - The Origin of Species is my official pick, though I have not read it yet - I just have a feeling. I'll pick it up when it comes out in paperback.

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