On Tuesday, May 17, 7 pm, the Cape Breton Regional Library on Sydney’s Falmouth Street welcomes Atlantic Book Awards nominees Sheldon Currie and Daniel Doucet, and North Sydney author Wanda Robson who will read from their works. The event also features a tribute to Cape Breton author Frank MacDonald.
Currie’s novel, Two More Solitudes, is nominated for the Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction). Currie, born in Glace Bay, is known for his novels Down The Coal Town Road and The Company Store. The title short story from his collection The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum, was made into the Helena Bonham Carter movie, Margaret’s Museum.
Daniel Doucet is nominated for the Dartmouth Book award (non-fiction) for his bilingual biography of Elizabeth LeFort: Canada’s Artist In Wool (Cape Breton University Press).
Currie and Doucet are two of four Cape Breton writers nominated for Atlantic Book Awards. The other two island nominees are Alexander MacLeod, nominated for the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award for his short story collection Light Lifting (Biblioasis), and social critic Laura Penny nominated for the Evelyn Richardson Memorial Literary Prize for Non-Fiction for her book More Money Than Brains (McClelland and Stewart).
Robson’s memoir, Sister To Courage (Breton Books), recalls growing up with her sister, Viola Desmond, who was arrested when she stood up to racial segregation in 1940’s Nova Scotia. Desmond went on to become a successful businessperson and community leader and received an official apology from the Nova Scotia government in the last two years.
Frank MacDonald’s novel, A Forest For Calum (CBU Press), has been internationally acclaimed. Before that, he was a beloved columnist for the weekly Inverness Oran, and has also several popular stage plays. His impact on the culture of his home island is huge and ongoing.
The event offers free admission to all members of the public, refreshments, and books by all the authors will be available for purchase and signing.
