Book suggestions for under the tree

- December 16, 2008 Evidence?" />

Librarian Ian Colford's first fiction book is called Evidence.

Do you have a fiction lover on your list? May we suggest … ?

  • Ian Colford's debut book, Evidence, cracked The Globe and Mail's top five picks for 2008, as chosen by Jim Bartely, the Globe's first fiction reviewer. Evidence, which was launched at the Killam Library in the spring, is a series of “linked stories” narrated by Kostandin Bitri, a wanderer who has been uprooted by war from an unnamed eastern European country.

    When it was first reviewed in the G&M in July, Evidence was hailed as a "rich, shadowed, mind-tweaking puzzle of a book."

    Mr. Colford, Assistant University Librarian, Collections, is now working on a novel set in South America.

  • Carol Bruneau’s latest book is Glass Voices, about the life of a woman who survives the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917.

    Ms. Bruneau starts as Dalhousie’s writer in residence in January. She will be available for individual consultation and is also offering two different biweekly non-credit workshops for those wishing to pursue the craft of writing fiction.

  • Playwright and novelist Charles Crosby—also Dalhousie’s manager of media relations—released his second novel in the spring. Described as a “rollicking, ribald ride,” by CBC Radio’s Stephanie Domet, Backspin is the story of faded professional tennis player Ollie Wood and his desperate grab at one more memorable career moment before hanging up his racquet. Mr. Crosby’s first novel, italics, mine, released in 2005, made the shortlist for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award.

  • Donna Morrissey, author of Kit’s Law, Downhill Chance and Sylvanus Now, has a new novel which continues to follow the fortunes of the Now family, first introduced in Sylvanus Now. What They Wanted is set in a Newfoundland outport and moves to Alberta with the characters. Ms. Morrissey teaches in Dalhousie’s creative writing program.

  • Cape Breton-based writer Julie Curwin has won the 2008 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for her story “World Backwards.” The story triumphed over 1,700 entries from Commonwealth countries around the world. It was selected as the best story from the Caribbean and Canada region of the Commonwealth before winning the overall competition.

    New Brunswick-born Ms. Curwin began writing only two years ago, and is now working on a collection of short stories with medical themes. A psychiatrist by profession, she has a BSc and M.D. from Dalhousie University, and a diploma in post-graduate medicine (psychiatry) from Queen’s University.

    Prize-winning stories can be downloaded in PDF format and read at the website for the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.  

  • Darryl Whetter’s debut novel The Push & the Pull, “a novel of sex, death and bicycling,” was released earlier in the summer. According to author Bill Gaston, “Darryl Whetter's style gleams like a rare and fresh metal. Here, in a ride we haven't seen taken, is a daunting, all-terrain, solo journey to the heart.”

    Dr. Whetter’s first book, A Sharp Tooth in the Fur, a collection of stories, was named to The Globe and Mail’s top 100 books of 2003. He is coordinator of the creative program at Dalhousie.

  • Writer Lesley Choyce continues his prolific output with The Book of Michael. The young-adult novel tells the story of 16-year-old Michael Grove, wrongly convicted for the murder of his girlfriend. The novel is Mr. Choyce’s 65th book and counting. His books deal with topics ranging from skateboarding to racism and environmental issues. Mr. Choyce teaches in Dalhousie’s Department of English and in the Transition Year Program.

    If you have suggestions of a favorite author who is connected with Dalhousie, please write in and add to our list.


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