Our Blog — The Literary Type

Andrew Borkowski's Copernicus Avenue has been nominated for a Toronto Book Award. Established in 1974, the TBAs honour authors of artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. In Andrew's case, the book is set in the pseudonomed Roncesvalles Avenue area of Toronto, and I can speak to the literary merit of the collection, because we published two of the stories contained therein (in issues #101 and #117). Each of the shortlisted authors will receive $1000, while the winner (to be announced on October 11) will receive $11000.

Because the criteria for the award is so broad, the shortlist is quite varied, ranging from a collection of poems to a book about Gordon Lightfoot. Only one other work of fiction, Farzana Doctor's Six Metres of Revolution, is in the running. Borkowski and the other 4 shortlisted authors will read from their books at Toronto Public Library's Yorkville Branch on Wednesday, October 3, 6:30-8pm.

In related news: if you enjoyed the conversation between Andrew Borkowski and Eva Stachniak in issue # 123, you can catch them at the "Writing Eastern Europe" panel alongside Antanas Sileika [TNQ #116] on Tuesday, September 18, 2-4pm at the University of Toronto.