Heather Burt

THE ONLINE ETHEL WILSON PRIZE DISCUSSION FORUM

This event, hosted by BC author Gail Anderson-Dargatz and featuring this year’s shortlisted fiction authors, will take place on Sunday, April 6th from 10 am to 1 pm. Click on the Forums link of Gail’s website to follow the conversation, either in real time or any time later.

THE FIFTH ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE SOIREE

April 19 7:00 - 9:00 at the Metropolitan Hotel (645 Howe St., Vancouver)

This is a free public event featuring music, food by Diva at the Met, a silent auction and opportunities to meet Heather Burt and many other shortlisted authors. People’s Co-operative Bookstore will be selling shortlisted titles, and the authors in attendance will be happy to autograph copies.

BC BOOK PRIZE FINALISTS ON TOUR

April 21-25: Heather will be taking part in the Kootenays portion of the BC Book Prizes tour. Her travel-mates will be David Jones (author of Baboon) and Meg Tilly (author of Porcupine), both nominated for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, as well as Rita Wong (author of Forage), nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.

The tour will include library and school readings in Trail, Nelson, Creston, Cranbrook, and Castlegar.

For more information, please have a look at the Kootenays Leg webpage.

THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S BC BOOK PRIZE GALA

April 26 at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (900 Canada Place Way, Vancouver)

• 5:30 Reception
• 6:30 Dinner and Ceremony
• 9:30 Post-gala Reception (no ticket required for this portion)

Tickets for this event, emceed by Fanny Kiefer, are $65 each and are available at the BC Book Prizes website.

Caroline Skelton of the North Shore News has awarded unofficial prizes to all of the nominees in the BC Book Prize fiction category. She writes, “Reading through the five books on the shortlist, it struck me as unfair that one should go home with all the proverbial marbles. What about the many charms and peccadillos of the other four? Not one little ode for all those finely realized characters, lushly painted scenes and hold-onto-your-socks-lest-you-get-blown-away metaphors? What follows are my humble suggestions for new award categories to precede this year’s fiction prize.”

And this year’s “Bad Sex Award” goes to ….

Adam’s Peak by Heather Burt!

Judge’s remarks: “Heather Burt’s sweeping novel is chock full of unfulfilling encounters — from impersonal sex with tourists to ill-fated liaisons with vibrators. The story follows the linked lives of Montreal neighbours Clare and Rudy, in the years following one meaningful childhood encounter, and the events that bring them together again. But it’s also the story of discovery and exploration — which might explain all that fumbling.”

For the rest of the Skelton Awards, check out the full article.

Pictured above are Ethel Wilson Prize finalists Heather Burt, Shaena Lambert, David Chariandy, Mary Novik, and Claire Mulligan at the 24th annual BC Book Prize Gala on April 26, 2008. It was a terrific event, with Mary Novik accepting the prize for her masterful novel, Conceit. More details about the event are available at the BC Book Prizes website.

Crossing the Kootenay Pass on one of our day trips out of Nelson: Meg Tilly, Heather Burt, Rita Wong, David Jones.

Between April 21st and 25th the Kootenay Leg group visited schools and libraries in Nelson, Trail, Cranbrook, Creston, and Castlegar. For a day by day account of this trip, as well as the Northern, Southern and Lower Mainland legs, visit the BC Book Prize tour blog.