Novel-tease: 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

New Edition of Belletrista

The latest edition of Bellestrista is out, and I wrote two reviews for it (Brixton Beach, by Roma Tearne, and For Grace Received, by Valeria Parrella) and an article on the Giller Prize. Check it all out at:

Issue #2: http://www.belletrista.com/2009/issue2/index.php

Article about the Giller Prize: http://www.belletrista.com/2009/issue2/features_3.php

Brixton Beach review: http://www.belletrista.com/2009/issue2/reviews_5.php

For Grace Recieved review: http://www.belletrista.com/2009/issue2/reviews_14.php

Holiday shopping for the book lover on your list: http://www.belletrista.com/2009/issue2/features_5.php

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Annabel Lyon

For those of you who are interested, here's some basic info on the New Westminster writer who is short listed for the Giller Prize. Her name is Annabel Lyon, and she is a 38 year old mother of two small children, and a creative writing instructor at UBC. Her novel, The Golden Mean, is a first-person account of Aristotle teaching the future Alexander the Great. She has published collections of short stories, but this is her debut novel. It is nominated for:

The Scotiabank Giller Prize (she'll get $5,000 for sure because she made the short list, $50,000 if she wins), winner announced November 10

The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (worth $25,000), winner announed November 24

The Governor General's Award (worth $25,000), winner announced November 17

Our Next Two Reads

Our book for November is The Accidental, by Ali Smith. We're meeting on Monday, November 16th. Details to follow.

If you're a keener and planning your reading, our January book is The Palace Walk, by Naguib Mahfouz.

A few things . . .

Great meeting last night! Here are a few updates:

1. I removed our sir names from the header . . . I think it now looks odd, somehow less legitimate . . . but hey, legitimacy is over-rated anyway. Anyway, now no one will be able to find you here!

2. I checked Imdb, and Blindness was released in October 2008, and starred Julianne Moore and Danny Glover. I find it especially interesting that it was filmed in Ontario, Uruguay and Brazil.

3. The dystopian YA novel that Kathy recommended is called Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (thanks, Kathy--it sounds like something Nina will like).

4. I'll post something about Annabel Lyon and her novel The Golden Mean later. I'm writing an article about her for Belletrista.com