Showcase for Atlantic non-fiction writers

I just had the pleasure of reading an extract from The Golden Daughter at a wonderful event at Kings University in Halifax. It was billed as 'Writing The Truth: an Evening of Non-Fiction,' and was part of the whole Atlantic Book Awards celebration.

I was one of five authors reading and being interviewed by host Simon Thibeault.

Two of us were short-listed for the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award: myself for The Golden Daughter: My Mother's Secret Past as a Ukrainian Slave Worker in Nazi Germany, and Marjorie Timmins for In Search of Puffins: Stories of Loss, Light and Flight. A third short-listed candidate, Jessie Harrold, who wrote Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage, was unable to attend.

The other three readers were short-listed for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non Fiction). They were Ken Hynes for Service and Sacrifice; James MacDuff and Mirriam Mweemba for The Illogical Adventure, a Memoir of Love and Fate; and Jo-Ann Roberts for Storm the Ballot Box.

The picture (above) shows, from left: Ken Hynes, me, Marjorie Simmins, Simon Thibeault, Jo-Ann Roberts and James MacDuff.

The Atlantic Book Awards Festival runs from May 28 until June 4. The mandate of the Atlantic Book Awards Society is to promote and acknowledge excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing. You can find out more about the festival here.

If you get a chance, drop by one of the events and show your support for the local authors and publishers whose work is being showcased.