Phil Hall takes 2011 Governor General’s Award for Poetry
November 15th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The Governor General’s Awards for literature were announced this morning at 11:30 Newfoundland time. Of course, I’d miss the live announcement as I was in school at the time, but I’d later see that Phil Hall won the poetry category. I saw him read a few years back when he came to St. John’s and I was impressed. Quite an accomplishment and a congratulations to him for this latest achievement. The book’s title is Killdeer and I’ve yet to read it, but it’ll certainly be on my radar now. Here’s a video of Hall reading from the book earlier this year at BookThug’s Spring launch:
He beat out some good competition in Susan Musgrave and Michael Boughn, both authors who have been highly tagged as possible winners. Perhaps the greatest success this year is that of BookThug, the company that published Hall’s book. Not only did they publish the winner, but three of the five finalists, making it a banner year for them. This will no doubt garner greater interest in BookThug and well deserved, I say. Check out their website and see what interests you.
Cuffer Prize Finalists Announced
November 13th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Chad Pelley, novelist and Salty Ink blogger, has posted the shortlist for the 2011 Cuffer Prize competition. Pelley himself has been shortlisted with two entries in this year’s competition while Annette Conway makes a notable contribution of two entries as well. If you click the link and read through the post, you will also find a little biographical information about each of the authors. The finalists will find out whether or not they’ve won a first, second, or third place prize on November 30th at a ceremony to be held at the Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s. Good luck to all of the finalists.
The complete shortlist:
Annette Conway for “Iteration”
Annette Conway for “Making Bread”
Eva Crocker for “Tickets”
Grant Loveys for “Our Guys”
Chad Pelley for “What the Difference Is”
Chad Pelley for “Walls”
Josh Pennell for “Regal Hill”
Mary Pike for “Why is Margaret Crying So Early in the Morning?”
Dara Squires for Corner Brook for “Raw Turnip”
Deborah Whelan for “Adele”
The Kindle 3
July 29th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
It seems that Amazon is jumping on the wagon with Sony and Kobo to produce a low(er) cost version of the Kindle that is slightly less bulky and easier to use. This is good news for those who did not want to spend a large amount on a Kindle when there are other, cheaper alternatives available.
I’ve not tried a Kindle, so I cannot comment on its ease of use or suitability as an everyday reading tool. I imagined it would be only a matter of time until Amazon followed in the footsteps of the other e-reader producers. Maybe this is a good step for them and their customers.
This article seems very concerned with comparing the Kindle to the iPad, but I really don’t understand why. The iPad has a backlit screen which automatically rules it out for me as a viable e-reader. I’d be more comfortable with a dedicated device for reading than another piece of technology that can let you read, but does a hundred different tasks more effectively (none of which at the same time, by the way). Read up on it and make your own informed decision.
