Category: Awards

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Marjoleine Kars wins 2021 Cundill History Prize

Marjoleine Kars has been named winner of the 2021 Cundill History Prize for Blood on the River: a Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast (The New Press). Kars accessed a previously untapped Dutch archive to reveal the little-known story of a 1763 slave rebellion in Berbice, a Dutch colony in present-day Guyana. Drawing on nearly 900 interrogation transcripts – extremely rare verbatim accounts from suspected rebels, bystanders, and witnesses – she is able to provide a unique day-by-day account of the revolt, in the words of both colonists and, crucially, the slaves themselves. Read more

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Barnes & Noble booksellers reveal book of the year: ‘magnificent and deeply original’

Singer and songwriter Paul McCartney’s book “The Lyrics” is Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year for 2021 … Begun in 2019, Barnes & Noble’s books of the year are nominated by booksellers across the nation and then narrowed to eight titles by a selection committee. The booksellers then vote on the eight titles for their favorite of the year. Read more

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Omar El Akkad wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for novel What Strange Paradise

What Strange Paradise is a novel that tells the story of a global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child. Nine-year-old Amir is the only survivor from a ship full of refugees coming to a small island nation. He ends up with a teenage girl named Vanna, who lives on the island. Even though they don’t share a common language or culture, Vanna becomes determined to keep Amir safe. What Strange Paradise tells both their stories and how they each reached this moment, while asking the questions, “How did we get here?” and “What are we going to do about it?” Read more

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Here are this year’s World Fantasy Award winners

The winners of this year’s World Fantasy Awards were announced this weekend at the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, Canada. Considered one of the most prestigious honors for fantasy and speculative fiction, the award celebrates writers and artists who published work during the previous calendar year. Previous winners include C.L. Polk, Emma Törzs, and Kij Johnson. Writers Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop were also honored at the convention with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Read more

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Is Superman Circumcised? favourite to win Oddest book title of the year

Six books are in the running for the 43rd prize, nominated by members of the book trade, with Curves for the Mathematically Curious up against Hats: A Very Unnatural History, The Life Cycle of Russian Things: From Fish Guts to Fabergé, and Miss, I Don’t Give a Shit: Engaging with Challenging Behaviour in Schools. Read more

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Young Senegalese author wins top French literature prize

A young Senegalese writer unknown to the general public was on Wednesday awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s leading literature prize, for a novel exploring the destiny of a cursed African author. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, 31, is the first sub-Saharan African to win the literary award. Read more

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