The City of Ottawa has announced that Carleton University’s Tim Cook and English master’s student Kagiso Lesego Molope are finalists for the 2019 Ottawa Book Awards and Prix du livre d’Ottawa.
Molope is nominated in the English Fiction category for her book This Book Betrays My Brother.
The book focuses on Naledi, who has a charming, gifted older brother, Basi. When she sees Basi commit a horrific act that goes against everything she knows about him, Naledi is caught in a bind. Should she report Basi or should she keep quiet? Would anyone believe her? How will she live her life now? There are no simple answers.
Molope was born in South Africa and lives in Ottawa. Her first two novels, Dancing in the Dust and The Mending Season, were used as school texts in South Africa. This Book Betrays My Brother is her third young adult title. Such a Lonely, Lovely Road was her first book for adults.
Cook is nominated in the English Non-Fiction category for his book The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War.
The Secret History of Soldiers examines how First World War soldiers found entertainment, solace, relief and distraction from relentless slaughter. These tales come from the soldiers themselves, mined from letters, diaries, memoirs and oral accounts of more than 500 combatants. Rare examples of trench art, postcards and even song sheets offer insight into a hidden society that was often irreverent, raunchy and anti-authoritarian.
Cook is an adjunct research professor in the Department of History and the Great War historian at the Canadian War Museum. His 10 books have won numerous awards, including J.W. Dafoe prizes, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and C.P. Stacey prizes. He received the 2013 Pierre Berton Award for popularizing Canadian history. He is a member of the Order of Canada.
The winners of each category will be announced at an awards ceremony taking place Oct. 16, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at Ottawa City Hall. Each winner will receive $7,500, while finalists will receive $1,000.
The full list of 2019 finalists can be found here: https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/arts-heritage-and-culture/ottawa-book-awards#2019-finalists.
About the Ottawa Book Awards:
The Ottawa Book Awards and Prix du livre d’Ottawa recognize the top English and French books.
Since 1985, the Ottawa Book Awards / Le Prix du livre d’Ottawa have paid tribute to Ottawa’s outstanding writers by shining the spotlight on the top books published in the previous year. The award celebrates the talent and creativity of authors past and present, and applauds their remarkable achievements on the world’s literary stage.
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Thursday, September 19, 2019 in News Releases
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