Latest news with #GovernorGeneral'sLiteraryAwards
CBC
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Michael Ondaatje among finalists for $10K prize for established Canadian poets
CBC Books | Posted: April 2, 2025 3:45 PM | Last Updated: Just now The Al & Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize recognizes poets with new books out Image | Michael Ondaatje Caption: Michael Ondaatje is the author of A Year of Last Things. (Teri Pengilley) Open Image in New Tab Michael Ondaatje is among the five shortlisted authors for the 2025 Al & Eurithe Poetry Prize. The $10,000 prize, now in its second year, recognizes the best new book from a Canadian poet who has published five or more poetry books. Ondaatje is nominated for his book A Year of Last Things, his long-awaited return to poetry. Drawing on his personal experiences, this collection goes back in time to all the borders that he's crossed with imagery at once witty, moving and wise. Ondaatje is a Canadian literary icon. His novels and poetry have earned international acclaim, and he was the first Canadian ever to win the Booker Prize — in 1992, for the wartime story The English Patient. Born in Sri Lanka and educated in England, Ondaatje moved to Canada when he was 18 to attend university. Ondaatje began his writing career in 1967 as a poet, winning two Governor General's Literary Awards for poetry before turning to fiction. Over his career, he's also won the Giller Prize and France's prestigious Prix Medicis. The other writers nominated are Brian Bartlett for The Astonishing Room, Tim Bowling for In the Capital City of Autumn, A.F. Moritz for Great Silent Ballad and Harold Rhenisch for The Salmon Shanties. The jury, composed of writers Laisha Rosnau, Sam Solecki and Sid Marty, last year's winner, selected the shortlist. The prize was founded in honour of poet Al Purdy and the winner will be announced on April 21, 2025, the 25th anniversary of his death. Purdy published over 30 poetry collections, a novel, two memoirs and four books of letters over his 50-year career. Known as Canada's unofficial poet laureate, he received two Governor General's Literary Awards for poetry for The Cariboo Horses and The Collected Poems of Al Purdy. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982 and won the League of Canadian Poets' Voice of the Land Award, recognizing his contributions to Canadian poetry.
CBC
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Todd Stewart reveals the everyday activities that bring him joy and purpose
3 Reflections of a Montreal Winter is an original personal essay by Todd Stewart. It is part of Mirrors, a special series of new, original writing featuring work by the English-language winners of the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards, presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. "I will write a diary entry-type narrative. Three separate — not necessarily connected — reflections, in which one entry reflects on creative practice, skating outdoors and the infinity room at a museum. "I'm writing less specifically about connecting with the children's book world and more about the activities that have me feeling a more profound connection to myself and the world around me (as noted in the first sentence of my text). So, I bring a little more reflection of how reading children's books is part of this," Stewart told CBC Books. CBC's Radio One will host an episode featuring participants from this original series. Stewart won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books for Skating Wild on an Inland Sea, written by Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrated by Stewart. . 3 Reflections of a Montreal Winter Finding meaning in my life is a dance between connecting with my own self and with the people in the world around me — family, close friends, colleagues, neighbours and strangers. I keep a list of certain activities that, if done regularly, boost my ability to get through life and function properly. When I'm down, I check the list. Am I sleeping enough? Am I exercising enough? Am I engaging with art? Drawing? And am I reading children's books? Skating as ritual In Montreal winters, as soon as the temperature drops below zero, I regularly monitor the ice conditions at my local outdoor rink. My vigilance borders on obsession; our winters are much warmer than in previous years, and good ice days are the exception. I just love to skate. As the years go by, I've realized that it has become a ritual for me, one that brings me joy. If the ice is good, I'm a happier person. I keep a list of certain activities that, if done regularly, boost my ability to get through life and function properly. When I'm down, I check the list. Am I sleeping enough? Am I exercising enough? Am I engaging with art? Drawing? And am I reading children's books? I always skate with a stick and puck. I grew up in the Prairies playing hockey. If there's a net, I'll shoot at it. I like the snapshot. I love backwards crossovers. I always play if I'm asked. "Es-tu game?" You bet. But mostly, I search for the best time when I can be alone on the ice: mid-morning after it has been flooded overnight. I shoot at the net; I am weightless and focused. An hour goes by in a second, my eyelashes are glued together, and clouds of steam rise out of my collar. In these solitary moments, I feel I've done something for, and with, my body, in a moment of reprieve from the world around me. Bodies, multiplied My family steps into an Infinity Room at the Broad Museum. We get one minute, and the three of us go in together. I remember feeling distracted, somehow not present. I grab my phone and take photos of our dark, distorted shapes surrounded by coloured lights. Our bodies are multiplied and reflected into a murky distance that somehow isn't horrifying but instead is comforting. I take this all in through the screen of my phone. Emily breaks my trance by speaking to me, pointing my attention towards the bottom right corner. I forget about taking photos, about the outside world, and stare into infinity, away from my reflection. For just a few seconds, I feel similarly to the moments after I've gone skating, that somehow I've done myself some good. This time, I am conscious of having shared this moment with the two other people in the room, then with the artist herself, and even the rest of the people in the Museum. Shifting streaks of blue Over the last several years, I have cultivated a regular swimming practice. I try to swim regularly because it, too, has become a sacred activity for me, a marker of my happiness. I am one of the neighbourhood artists in Our Lady of Mile End, taking advantage of open swim times at their local Y to use the showers and steam room. And swim. I dip under the water. Shifting streaks of blue blend together; I'm inside the pages of When You Can Swim. It's the best kind of mirror, the kind where you don't look at yourself, but you can still listen. I pay attention to my body and breathing, which parts move differently today, and how I receive and pass through the water. The dark, distorted shapes of other swimmers pass quickly beside me. It's a solitary activity, but I'm acutely aware of the other swimmers; we are all different versions of each other, passing through space and time. It's the best kind of mirror, the kind where you don't look at yourself, but you can still listen. Whether it be moving my body or experiencing a piece of art, in these moments, I'm somehow connecting with the other versions of myself past and future — performing the same activity. In doing things that may seem solitary on the surface — such as reading a good picture book — I'm not only communicating with my other reading selves but with the community of people around me who have made this moment possible. In these moments, I now feel more connected with the book's creators and publishers, those who fund libraries, teach literature in schools and celebrate a good read — and, of course, other children reading the same stories. And this brings me joy. About Todd Stewart Todd Stewart is a Montreal-based illustrator and printmaker. His picture book The Wind in the Trees (Quand le vent souffle), was a nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books. The English-language books that won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards demonstrate how stories help us reflect on our lives, understand ourselves more deeply and see the world in new ways. CBC Books asked the winners to further explore the power of reflection in original works. The special series, themed around the theme of mirrors, challenges how we see ourselves and our society — unearthing hidden truths, exploring alternative identities and blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.
CBC
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Chimwemwe Undi discovers the importance of looking in life's rear-view mirror in new poem
The First Year is an original poem by Chimwemwe Undi. It is part of Mirrors, a special series of new, original writing featuring work by the English-language winners of the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards, presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. "The theme of mirrors conjured for me the experience of looking at yourself in the mirror and noticing more clearly something that was behind you. From there, I was drawn back to a pre-existing preoccupation of mine, which is the role that personal, family and world history have on a person's ability or willingness to contend with the world as it is today," Undi told CBC Books. Undi won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry for Scientific Marvel. The First Year In the first year that those years could be called the past the past still bloomed at the borders and in the graveyards and the graveyards were the streets where my uncles died like dogs. In that first year, that first blush of history, I was born, scaled, unscathed, aspiring to nuance. I took my Gogo's name and a lamb was slaughtered in the world and in the name of god, and the name meant lamb. In that first year, that first blush of history, I was born, scaled, unscathed, aspiring to nuance. In my dreams, my screens are windows. Even here, where I pass my tassel and into the new school of unmaking. Taught to peddle in precedent & abstraction (what has happened should happen) (what exactly do you mean by happening?) Here, in the Black I was born unto, newly history, the new and hollow sound, Even in my dreams I learn the truth is something that you sigh. I learn to loosen fists and lower quiet hands to hold myself to let knit fingers slip pause pointer over empty sentiments left unrepeated all my questions in the other room. The word apartheid is in Afrikaans so when I say it, it reminds me what it did. The word apartheid is in Afrikaans so when I say it, it reminds me what it did. It was a long war, and it is still going. You can taste it in the fruit. About Chimwemwe Undi Chimwemwe Undi is a Winnipeg-based poet, editor and lawyer. She was recently announced as Canada's 11th parliamentary poet laureate and was the Winnipeg Poet Laureate for 2023 and 2024. Undi was longlisted for the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize. She won the 2022 John Hirsch Emerging Writer Award from the Manitoba Book Awards and her work can be found in Brick, Border Crossings, Canadian Literature and BBC World, among others. The English-language books that won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards demonstrate how stories help us reflect on our lives, understand ourselves more deeply and see the world in new ways. CBC Books asked the winners to further explore the power of reflection in original works. The special series, themed around the theme of mirrors, challenges how we see ourselves and our society — unearthing hidden truths, exploring alternative identities and blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.
CBC
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
6 Canadians write stories of reflection in this series from the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award winners
The English-language books that won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards demonstrate how stories help us reflect on our lives, understand ourselves more deeply and see the world in new ways. CBC Books asked the winners to further explore the power of reflection in original works. The special series, centred around the theme of mirrors, challenges how we see ourselves and our society — unearthing hidden truths, exploring alternative identities and blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Canadian authors Li Charmaine Anne, Caleigh Crow, Katia Grubisic, Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, Todd Stewart and Chimwemwe Undi have all delivered an original piece of writing — from poetry to nonfiction to short story — inspired by this theme. This special series is presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. CBC's Radio One will host an episode featuring participants from this original series. Read on for links to these pieces. Li Charmaine Anne's essay invites us to see how the hobbies we choose, or don't choose, are more than just activities we enjoy — they are tied to our identity and how we want to be seen. Looking back, I wonder what exactly I was aspiring to. I assume it was a better, "cooler," more punk-rock version of who I felt obligated to be. "[It's] a personal essay about the urge to define yourself through hobbies. We often associate certain hobbies with certain personalities, and young people like trying different hobbies to 'try on' different identities. "Hobbies can be seen as 'mirrors' we use to assess who we are (or at least who we want to appear as). I also loosely explore this theme in my book's Author's Note section, so I think it ties in nicely," Li Charmaine Anne wrote. Li Charmaine Anne's YA novel Crash Landing won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text. Li Charmaine Anne is a writer with a BFA from the University of British Columbia in creative writing and English literature. Crash Landing is their debut novel. Old Little Sister by Caleigh Crow Caleigh Crow wrote a story featuring a literal mirror that's not only 20 feet tall, but also used in a way you might not expect. In an instant, the square was illuminated. The light was pale, crooked, and had vestigial colours at the edges. Crow said she was captivated by a small town in the Italian Alps, where a giant mirror on the mountainside reflects sunlight into the town square. For 83 days each winter, the town is shrouded in darkness. Inspired by their journey from shadow to light, Crow created her original work of evocative prose. When the mirror was unveiled, she imagined the townsfolk's reactions. Crow won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for drama for the play There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow. Crow is a queer Métis theatre artist from northeast Calgary. She is the co-founder and artistic lead of Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre. Volja and the Mountain by Katia Grubisic Katia Grubisic wrote a story about a woman fleeing over a mountain to escape her captors. When she finally breaks free, she's faced with a new challenge — her old self is gone, and she doesn't recognize who she is anymore. Imagine the miracle of water in its absence. The brook ran clean, making its own secret way down the mountain, singing its freedom easily. - From Volja and the Mountain by Katia Grubisic " Volja and the Mountain is about a traveller escaping over a mountain. As she climbs, she sheds words and objects until she reaches a cabin where she might be able to reinvent herself. "The piece explores themes of exile, departure and identity, and the aesthetic is a kind of brutalist magic realism," Grubisic wrote. Grubisic won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation for Nights Too Short to Dance, a novel written by Marie-Claire Blais and translated by Grubisic. Grubisic is a writer, editor and translator. She has been a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for translation and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Her collection of poems What if red ran out won the Gerald Lampert award for best first book. Turtle Island by Niigaanwewidam (Niigaan) Sinclair Niigaan Sinclair takes us back to those childhood moments when you first realize the world isn't as simple as you thought. In his story, he places us in the shoes of a child discovering that Canada is home to peoples and cultures whose histories far predate confederation. You see hundreds of nations you never knew existed. Thousands of cultures. Millions of years. Looking up, the world around looks different. - From Turtle Island by Niigaanwewidam Sinclair "[It's] how Canadians have been conditioned (in education, etc) to "see" (or, rather, not see) one another — which creates a self-fulfilling and very self-centred prophecy," Sinclair wrote. Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre. Sinclair is an Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) thinker and assistant professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He has written for The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama, The Guardian and CBC Books and is a regular contributor on APTN, CTV and CBC News. Sinclair is also the editor of The Debwe Series and the author and co-editor of award-winning Manitowapow and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies. 3 Reflections of a Montreal Winter by Todd Stewart In a series of three short stories, Todd Stewart reflects on his life, finding purpose and meaning through a balance of connecting with himself and the people around him — family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and even strangers. It's the best kind of mirror, the kind where you don't look at yourself, but you can still listen. - From 3 Reflections of a Montreal Winter by Todd Stewart "I will write a diary entry-type narrative. Three separate — not necessarily connected — reflections, in which one entry reflects on creative practice, skating outdoors, and the infinity room at a museum. "I'm writing less specifically about connecting with the children's book world and more about the activities that have me feeling a more profound connection to myself and the world around me (as noted in the first sentence of my text). So, I bring a little more reflection of how reading children's books is part of this," Stewart wrote. Stewart won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books for Skating Wild on an Inland Sea, written by Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrated by Stewart. Stewart is a Montreal-based illustrator and printmaker. His picture book The Wind in the Trees (Quand le vent souffle), was a nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. The First Year by Chimwemwe Undi Undi wrote a poem exploring the importance of looking in the rear-view mirror, reminding us that our history, the people we've encountered and our past experiences all shape who we are today. The word apartheid is in Afrikaans so when I say it, it reminds me what it did. - From The First Year by Chimwemwe Undi "The theme of mirrors conjured for me the experience of looking at yourself in the mirror and noticing more clearly something that was behind you. "From there, I was drawn back to a pre-existing preoccupation of mine, which is the role that personal, family, and world history have on a person's ability or willingness to contend with the world as it is today," Undi wrote. Canada's 11th parliamentary poet laureate and was the Winnipeg Poet Laureate for 2023 and 2024. Undi was longlisted for the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize. She won the 2022 John Hirsch Emerging Writer Award from the Manitoba Book Awards and her work can be found in Brick, Border Crossings, Canadian Literature and BBC World, among others.
