Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith (Orca Book Publishers) won the BuzzBooks contest earlier this week at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association annual trade show, in Portland, Ore. Nearly 200 punch cards were handed out to attendees who visited eight exhibits for publisher quick pitches on recent and upcoming titles across several genres. The booksellers and librarians then voted for the book they were "most excited to recommend to patrons of Northwest libraries and bookstores."
Orca Book Publishers described Speaking Our Truth this way: "For more than 150 years, thousands of indigenous children were forced by the Canadian government to attend schools designed to eradicate the cultural identities of indigenous peoples. This book takes readers on a journey toward reconciliation as we come to terms with the long-term effects of Residential (Boarding) Schools. Healing requires education and increased understanding of the impacts still being felt by survivors and their families."
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The 235 candidates from 60 countries who have been nominated for the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award were made public yesterday at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The five million Swedish kronor (about $617,000) award is given annually to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters "to promote interest in children's and young adult literature." The candidates can be seen here.
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Shortlists have been unveiled for the Wales Book of the Year. Category winners, who will be announced at an awards ceremony in Cardiff on November 13, receive £1,000 (about $1,320), while the overall winners in English and Welsh language are given an additional £3,000 (about $3,965). The English-language shortlisted titles are:
Poetry
What Possessed Me by John Freeman
The Other City by Rhiannon Hooson
Psalmody by Maria Apichella
Fiction
Pigeon by Alys Conran
Cove by Cynan Jones
Ritual, 1969 by Jo Mazelis
Creative Nonfiction
The Tradition by Peter Lord
Jumpin' Jack Flash by Keiron Pim
The Black Prince of Florence by Catherine Fletcher