Another Award Short List

The Ottawa Book Awards short list was announced last week. There are three awards: Fiction (English), Non-Fiction (English) and Creative Writing (French). The latter award is a catch-all for all Francophone writing by Ottawa authors in the past year.

The English lists are interesting to me as I have met several of the authors in person. They are all super nice! But I suppose my favourite to win would be Requiem by Frances Itani: a beautiful book written about the scars caused by the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. However, I would not be surprised if Elizabeth Hay or Alan Cumyn take the award.

In the Non-Fiction category, I have met Murray Brewster, Craig Oliver and Robert R. Fowler - all stand-up guys. Fowler's story is incredible, however, and I think he is going to get the award. He was also made an officer of the Order of Canada this past year. That being said, Oliver was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2012, so, there's that.

Here's the full list of the Ottawa Book Awards (English):

Fiction

Alan Cumyn, Tilt (Groundwood Books)
Jamieson Findlay , The Summer of Permanent Wants (Doubleday Canada)
Elizabeth Hay, Alone in the Classroom (McClelland & Stewart)
Frances Itani, Requiem (HarperCollins Publishers)
Shane Rhodes, Err (Nightwood Editions)

Non-fiction

Damien-Claude Bélanger, Prejudice and Pride: Canadian Intellectuals Confront the United States, 1891-1945 (University of Toronto Press)
Murray Brewster, The Savage War: The Untold Battles of Afghanistan
(John Wiley & Sons Canada)
Robert R. Fowler, A Season in Hell: My 130 Days in the Sahara with Al Qaeda (HarperCollins Publishers)
Craig Oliver,Oliver’s Twist: The Life and Times of an Unapologetic Newshound (Viking Canada)
Ruth B. Phillips, Museum Pieces: Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums (McGill-Queen’s University Press)
The winner will be announced at a ceremony on October 24th.