Edna Staebler (1906 - 2006)

UPDATE: 2011/09/07: Congratulations to Helen Waldstein Wilkes Letters from the Lost: A Memoir of Discovery for winning the 2011 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. A bummer to lose but an honour to be nominated. Helen’s book sounds fascinating and I look forward to tracking it down. -GL

From Harbour Publishing:

“Adventures in Solitude by Grant Lawrence is one of three Canadian books shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. Worth $10,000, the award is open to books of creative non-fiction published in the previous calendar year. To qualify, an entry:

• must be the writer’s first or second published book of any type or genre,
• must have a Canadian locale and/or significance,
• should be distinguished by first-hand research, well-crafted interpretive writing, the writer’s personal discovery or experience, and creative use of language or approach to the subject matter.

Previous winners are not eligible, and the judges reserve the right to grant or withhold the award in any year. Previous winners include Charlotte Gray, Wayson Choy and Elizabeth Hay. The winner will be announced on September 7, 2011.”

The Edna Staebler Award is administered by Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, and the award will be presented at a special centennial ceremony Oct. 4, 2011, in Waterloo, with author readings planned for the Brantford campus and Toronto office. The award is designed to encourage new Canadian talent, and is open to authors who have published a first or second book.

The other two books nominated are Jew and Improved by Benjamin Errett and Letters from the Lost by Helen Waldstein Wilkes.

My transport to the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts

As summer starts to wrap, I’ll send out a huge thank you to the festivals, people and places that have hosted me over the sunny season: Home County Folk Fest, Regina Folk Fest, Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, and the Refuge Cove Gallery. It’s definitely been a summer to remember. This weekend I’m bound for the annual Peak Performance Boot Camp in Princeton BC where I get to work with 20 of the best bands in BC for career development.

The fall season is shaping up to be a busy one as well, as I have the honour of once again co-hosting both the Polaris Music Prize Gala in Toronto, and the Western Canadian Music Awards, this time in awesome Whitehorse, Yukon. I’ll also be making a return to Word on the Street Vancouver, and am very excited to be announcing a book tour of the Kootenay region of southeast BC, where I’ll be making stops in Nelson, Fernie, Invermere, Cranbrook, Rossland, and possibly other towns. In November, I hope to be back in the prairies.

You can see all of my upcoming dates here.

For all those wondering what the hell is going on with me and CBC, I’ve spent the summer doing a lot of work for CBC Radio 1, both guest hosting the BC afternoon show All Points West, and doing a weekly nationally syndicated column called Cross Country Cottage. As of Tuesday September 6, I’m excited to be back in the hosting chair at CBC Radio 3 for my daily live show and weekly podcast.