The East Coast Literary Awards celebrating excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing have been announced for 2014. Here are this year’s winners:
Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award
What Lies Across the Water by Stephen Kimber
“What Lies Across the Water recounts the events leading up to the arrest of the Cuban Five, five Cuban anti-terrorism agents wrongfully arrested and convicted of “conspiracy to commit” espionage against the United States.
In response to decades of deadly attacks by Miami-based, anti-Cuban terrorist organizations, Cuba dispatched five agents — Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González — to Florida to infiltrate and report on the activities of these terrorist groups.” publisher
J.M Abraham Poetry Award
Bite Down Little Whisper by Don Domanski
“Governor General’s Award-winning poet Don Domanski’s new collection, Bite Down Little Whisper, delves into the interconnectedness of all life with spiritual gravitas and powerful mindfulness. These are poems brimming with mythological and scientific energies, with a multi-dimensionality that opens itself to both complexity and clarity. Domanski shows us seams and fastenings that unite our longings with the earth itself, with the nonhuman vitality that surrounds us. The heart’s need for unity and reverence is present in these poems as a whisper we hear in occasional moments of quietude, when it’s possible to perceive the workings of a larger existence.” publisher
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
The Hundred Hearts by William Kowalski
“On April 7, 2005, an I.E.D. blast in Afghanistan alters the course of Jeremy Merkin’s life forever. Still grieving the loss of his best friend, who was killed by the explosion, and nursing the physical and psychological wounds of the war, Jeremy returns home to find that nothing has changed, and yet everything is different. Living in the basement of a house he shares with his grandparents, mother, and mentally-challenged cousin, Henry, Jeremy smokes marijuana to combat his constant pain. He begins a career as a high school teacher, but memories of the war, the physical limitations caused by his injuries and a criminal accusation threaten to end his teaching career before it’s even begun.” publisher
