It’s Canlit season. And of course everybody’s talking about the Giller (I plan to go A-Gillering too).
But my reading list is exploding thanks to other prize lists as well. Like the ReLit award.
Have you seen their shortlists? (More deets here.)
Novels:
The Cube People, Christian McPherson (Nightwood)
Book, Ken Sparling (Pedlar)
Blood Relatives, Craig Francis Power (Pedlar)
The Find, Kathy Page (McArthur & Co)
Krakow Melt, Daniel Allen Cox (Arsenal Pulp)
The Goon, Jerrod Edson (Oberon)
The Bourgeois Empire, Evie Christie (ECW)
One Bloody Thing After Another, Joey Comeau (ECW)
Good Evening, Central Laundromat, Jason Heroux (Quattro)
Sweet England, Steve Weiner (New Star)
Stories:
The Devil You Know, Jenn Farrell (Anvil)
Ravenna Gets, Tony Burgess (Anvil)
I’m a Registered Nurse Not a Whore, Anne Perdue (Insomniac)
Bats or Swallows, Teri Vlassopoulos (Invisible)
There is No Other, Jonathan Papernick (Exile)
Punishing Ugly Children, Darryl Joel Berger (Killick)
I Still Don’t Even Know You, Michelle Berry (Turnstone)
Missed Her, Ivan E. Coyote (Arsenal Pulp)
Ronald Reagan, My Father, Brian Joseph Davis (ECW)
Poems:
The Inquisition Yours, Jen Currin (Coach House)
Sweet, Dani Couture (Pedlar)
Every Day in the Morning (Slow), Adam Seelig (New Star)
A Good Time Had by All, Meaghan Strimas (Exile)
The Good News About Armageddon, Steve McOrmond (Brick)
You Know Who You Are, Ian Williams (Wolsak & Wynn)
Marimba Forever, Jim Christy (Guernica)
NOTE: Whenever possible, I’ve linked to the publisher’s page for the relevant title.
It’s the Indie version of the Canadian literary awards. If you’re looking for some new titles to add to your reading list, check these out.
Is any one of these a “Can’t Miss” in your opinion?
Otherwise, I’m going to pick randomly and see what catches my reader’s attention…
PS I’m also obsessing about the Toronto Book Award (see said obsessiveness here).
I always like to check out the ReLit — if I only read from their longlists each year I’d still never catch up 😉 Have found some fabulous reads this way. On this particular shortlist, I have read none of these titles (yet), though I do own one of the poetry books.
It’s true: they are the longest longlists that I have ever seen. But, having said that, I would like to see the longer longlists of titles under consideration for other literary awards too. As Anne would say, longlists have more scope for the imagination.
Thanks, Kinna: maybe it will make an appearance in one of your awesome awards-round-up posts (love them)!
This is the first time that I’m hearing about ReLit. Thanks for the info and enjoy reading the material.
Check out the first week’s samples here.