Book links roundup: Unicorn cookbook found at British Library, portraits of Canadian poets, and more

• Medieval unicorn cookbook discovered at the British Library
• Shelly Grimson exhibits portraits of 16 Canadian poets
• Why are books with titles like The  ______’s Daughter so trendy?
• Michael Crummey lists top 10 literary feuds
• Watch Glen Milner’s “Birth of a Book” video

Canadian literary event roundup: Jan. 20-26

It’s a busy week for literary events. Here’s a sample of what’s going on across the country:

• Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild presents “Writing North: Writing the Extraordinary,” University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (Jan. 20–21, free, www.skwriter.com)
• Poet Tanya Davis leads Stanzas in the Stacks: Poetry in the Library after Dark, Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library, Halifax (Jan. 20, 8 p.m., free)
• Dragnet literary magazine launches its fourth issue, Academy of the Impossible, Toronto (Jan. 21, 9 p.m., pay what you can)
• Third annual Sparks Literary Festival, Memorial University, St. John’s (Jan. 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free)
• William Gibson discusses his new book, Distrust that Particular Flavor, Bolen Books, Victoria (Jan. 23, 7 p.m., free)
• Robbie Burns marathon poetry reading with haggis and shortbread, Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, Vancouver (Jan. 25, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., free)
• CBC Radio and McNally Robinson host 5 Readers, 5 Writers, 5 Minutes, Winnipeg (Jan. 25, 8 p.m., free)
• Brian Brennan, author of Writing My Way From Ireland to Canada, and Frances Hern, author of Yip Sang and the First Chinese Canadians, read from their work and discuss the Canadian immigrant experience, Central branch, Calgary Public Library (Jan. 26, 12 to 1 p.m., free. Call 403-260-2620 to register)
• Ottawa Independent Writers presents “How to Write a Winning ‘How-To’ Book” with business author Dr. Denis Cauvier, Library & Archives Canada (Jan. 26, 7 p.m., $10, www.oiw.ca)
• Reading and book signing with UPEI writer-in-residence Michael Crummey, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown (Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., free)

Quillblog is looking for photos from literary events across Canada. Send your photos to scflinn@quillandquire.com.

Book links round-up: Winter, Donoghue make Orange shortlist, Crummey’s IMPAC nod, and more

• Kathleen Winter and Emma Donoghue shortlisted for 2011 Orange Prize; judge declares women’s writing in “rude health”
• Michael Crummey’s Galore is the only Canadian novel on the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award shortlist
• Winnipeg artist Ray Fenwick transforms used book covers into typographical art
• What your favourite childhood book says about you now
• This link brought to you by Amazon’s cheaper model Kindle, now with ad content

CBC Literary Awards winners announced

Shelagh Rogers announced the winners of this year’s CBC Literary Awards this morning on CBC Radio’s Q.

The awards, started by editor, publisher, and CBC producer Robert Weaver in 1979, recognize original unpublished work by Canadians in three categories: creative non-fiction, poetry, and short story. First prize in each category is $6,000, second prize is $4,000, and all winning works get published in enRoute magazine. Previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields, and Susan Musgrave (who is, coincidentally, the subject of Q&Q’s April cover story.)

The first and second prize winners are:

Creative non-fiction:

1. Gina Leola Woolsey (Vancouver), “My Best Friend”
2. Leslie Beckmann (North Vancouver), “Tortfeasor”

Poetry:

1. Brian Brett (Salt Spring Island), “To Your Scattered Bodies Go”
2. Gerald Hill (Regina), “Natural Cause”

Short story:

1. Meghan Adams (London, ON), “Snapshots from My Father’s Euthanasia Road Trip, or Esau”
2. Corinne Stikeman (Toronto), “Birds That Streak the Sky”

This year’s jury consisted of Don Gillmor, Charlotte Gray, and Margaret Wente for the non-fiction category; Weyman Chan, Motion, and George Murray for the poetry category; and Michael Crummey, Rivka Galchen, and Madeleine Thien for the short story category.

A list of French-language winners can be found on the CBC Literary Awards/Prix littéraires Radio-Canada website.

Crummey’s Galore wins CAA award

The Canadian Authors Association announced the recipients of its annual CAA Literary Awards at a banquet in Victoria on June 26. The winners are as follows:

Mosaid Technologies Award for Fiction ($2,500): Michael Crummey, Galore (Doubleday Canada)

Lela Common Award for Canadian History ($2,500): Jonathan F. Vance, A History of Canadian Culture (Oxford University Press)

Carol Bolt Award for Drama ($2,500): Michael Nathanson, Talk (Playwrights Canada Press)

CAA Award for Poetry ($1,000): Tom Dawe, Where Genesis Begins (Breakwater Books)

Bookland Press Emerging Writer Award ($500): Rachelle Delaney, The Ship of Lost Souls (HarperCollins Canada)

Rush rocker on Atlantic Canada’s top ten

As mentioned previously on Quillblog, Nimbus Publishing will be releasing Atlantic Canada’s 100 Greatest Books this month. The editors are currently running a contest to see if you can guess the top five.

Neil Peart weighs in on his own personal top ten:

Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
The Custodian of Paradise by Wayne Johnston
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald
The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie Macdonald
The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce
An Avalanche of Ocean by Lesley Choyce
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
The Architects Are Here by Michael Winter
The Wreckage by Michael Crummey

September Q&Q: Dany Laferrière and more in the spotlight on Quebec publishing

The cover star of the September issue of Q&Q is the Haitian-born, Montreal-based author Dany Laferrière, who came to national attention in the 1980s with his first novel, How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired, and is set to make a comeback in English-Canada with his latest novel. Also in the issue, Q&Q looks at a Quebec City publishing house that is bringing English-Canadian writing to French readers, and at the Montreal micro-publisher Conundrum Press, which evolved from being a quirky literary house to a quirky publisher of graphic novels. All that plus Fall Announcements, listing every fall adult title, and reviews of Linwood Barclay’s Fear the Worst, Douglas Coupland’s Generation A, Shinan Govani’s Boldface Names, and Arthur Slade’s The Hunchback Assignments.

Returning North

Globe-trotting novelist Dany Laferrière is a big-time celebrity in Quebec. Now, after a decade-long hiatus, he’s being published again in English

Exposing family secrets

Six authors on navigating the personal minefield of memoir writing

The English invasion

An upstart Quebec City house is discovering a surprising demand in its home province for English-Canadian writing. And more in the spotlight on Quebec publishing: The evolution of Conundrum Press, and the dying art of literary translation

Fall Announcements

The season’s complete listings

FRONTMATTER

Bonnie Burnard is back in the spotlight

Don LePan among the Animals

Snapshot: BookNet Canada’s new CEO Noah Genner

Cover to Cover: Lavie Tidhar and Nir Yaniv’s The Tel Aviv Dossier

The e-catalogue cometh

Harry Bruce on the Hugh MacLennan novel that almost never was

Local Buzz: Back to the Beach

GUEST OPINION

Canada’s beleaguered litmags must experiment online to stay relevant, argues Jason McBride

REVIEWS

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Galore by Michael Crummey

The Fallen by Stephen Finucan

Animal by Alexandra Leggat

Plus more fiction, non-fiction, and poetry

BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Violet by Tania Stehlik and Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic

The Winter Drey by Sean Dixon

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

Plus more fiction, non-fiction, and picture books

THE LAST WORD

The ups and downs of Amazon’s sales rankings can drive authors to distraction, writes Linwood Barclay

Event photo: Coady, Robertson, and Babstock in Prague

You may think, looking at the photo below, that this is a shot of two unsuspecting tourists about to be fleeced by a suspicious-looking con man. But in fact it is authors Lynn Coady, Ray Robertson, and Ken Babstock in Prague. All three authors were in the Czech Republic to participate in the Month of Authors Reading Festival, which took place in the town of Brno in late July. The focus this year was on Canadian writers. Joining the three below were such authors as Michael Crummey, Madeleine Thien, Thomas Wharton, Eden Robinson, Louise Desjardins, and Sheila Heti. (Photo courtesy of Ray Robertson)