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Amazon.ca and Books In Canada Announce 2004 First Novel Award Winner
Published: Thu, 6 Oct 2005, 04:57 EDT
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By Aria C. Munro
Staff Writer, Publishers Newswire
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TORONTO, Ont. /Publishers Newswire/ -- Amazon.ca and Books in Canada today presented the 2004 First Novel Award and a cheque for $7,500 to Colin McAdam, author of Some Great Thing, at a ceremony held at the BookTelevision studio in Toronto. McAdam was selected to receive the award from a group of five finalists, all of whom had their first novels published in the year 2004.
The First Novel Award recognizes outstanding achievement by first-time Canadian novelists and has served as a springboard for the careers of many of Canada's most renowned authors. Michel Basilières won the 2003 award for Black Bird and Mary Lawson won the 2002 award for her first novel, Crow Lake. Other previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Rohinton Mistry, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, Wayne Johnston, Nino Ricci and Deborah Joy Corey.
McAdam currently lives in Montreal where he is writing his second novel. Some Great Thing, his captivating debut, is a historical piece set in 1970s Ottawa which chronicles the parallel lives of two men until they eventually intersect and their interactions shape the development of Ottawa itself, creating a world of ambition and desire, power and corruption. Some Great Thing is a striking Canadian literary work, published by Raincoast Books and available at Amazon.ca (www.amazon.ca).
Joining McAdam as 2004 First Novel Award finalists were David Elias for Sunday Afternoon (Coteau Books), Ibi Kaslik for Skinny (HarperCollins Publishers), Arthur Motyer for What's Remembered (Cormorant Books), and Catherine Safer for Bishop's Road (Killick Press). All five finalists were presented with Amazon.ca gift certificates in the amount of $750 at the event, which was hosted by BookTelevision's Kim Clarke Champniss.
W.P. Kinsella, the 1982 First Novel Award winner for his book Shoeless Joe, once again served as preliminary judge for the award, selecting the five finalists. Also serving as judges for the 2004 First Novel Award were Bill Gaston, a Victoria-based fiction writer who has authored 10 novels, was nominated for the Giller Prize and was the recipient of the inaugural Timothy Findley Award; Camilla Gibb, a Toronto-based author of three novels, numerous short stories, articles and reviews, and winner of the City of Toronto Book Award and CBC Canadian Literary Award for Short Fiction in 2000 and 2001; and Toronto-based novelist and short story writer Michael Winter among whose career achievements include winning the Winterset Award and being nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
"Amazon.ca would like to thank and congratulate all of the talented novelists who participated in the 2004 First Novel Award process," said Sarah Jane Gunter, manager, Amazon.ca. "We continue to be inspired by the many emerging authors who embody Canada's rich and long-standing literary history, and Amazon.ca remains committed to providing a platform through which literary fans everywhere can discover their work."
Books in Canada will be accepting submissions for the 2005 First Novel Award until December 31, 2005.
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