By the Chapter and Verse Team » Prizes have been upgraded for Toronto poet Oneal Walters’ 2nd Annual Women Inspirational Poetry Contest.
The contest is open to anyone who writes about women in verse. Poets may write about someone who inspires them. They may use a character depiction, a triumphant situation. Works must be original and unpublished entries.
As part of the prizes, the top three winners will receive cash prizes of US$110, US$60 and US$30 respectively, with the winner being interviewed on Chapter & Verse.
The top three winners will also be offered a chance to have their own professionally designed website at a huge discount. ProAuthorSites, which designs sites for writers, will waive the $250 setup fee for the subscription based service. The subscription, which includes a domain name of the author's choice as well as web hosting, is available at an affordable C$25 a month. The service is especially useful for writers as it allows them to easily add, edit or delete content themselves, using a MS Word-like editor.
Apart from the three winners, all contest entrants can also get a $100 discount off the one-time setup fee.
Winners will be notified in April 2010 by Walters; their names and the title of their winning poems will be published in OW News found at www.onealwalters.com. All poems remain the property of the poet.
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Leading Canadian journalist Linden MacIntyre's Giller Prize winning novel The Bishop's Man has taken top spot on the Amazon.ca bestseller list.
MacIntyre, the co-host of CBC's the fifth estate and the winner of nine Gemini Awards for broadcast journalism, won the 2009 Giller earlier this month.
The Bishop's Man is a deeply wise and moving novel that explores the guilty minds and spiritual evasions of Catholic priests.
Father Duncan MacAskill has spent most of his priesthood as the “Exorcist” — an enforcer employed by his bishop to discipline wayward priests and suppress potential scandal. He knows all the devious ways that lonely priests persuade themselves that their needs trump their vows, but he’s about to be sorely tested himself.
While sequestered by his bishop in a small rural parish to avoid an impending public controversy, Duncan must confront the consequences of past cover-ups and the suppression of his own human needs. Pushed to the breaking point by loneliness, tragedy and sudden self-knowledge, Duncan discovers how hidden obsessions and guilty secrets either find their way to the light of understanding, or poison any chance we have for love and spiritual peace.
Also making the Top 10 on the Amazon list for bestsellers in Canada were Under the Dome: A Novel by Stephen King, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell, Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi, A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War by Rick Hillier, The Twilight Saga Collection by Stephenie Meyer, Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1968-2000 by John English.
Sarah Palin's autobiography Going Rogue: An American Life came in at Number 15.
By the Chapter & Verse Team » You can bet it will be one of the hottest gifts for Christmas: Amazon's Kindle is finally available to Canadians. (View the Kindle page on Amazon.com)
In an announcement on its website today, Amazon.com said it will now ship the Kindle 2 to customers in Canada, about a month after making it available to 100 other countries.
The main reason for the delay was reportedly because Amazon had not yet struck a deal with a wireless carrier in Canada to allow it to deliver wireless content to the Kindle. There was no comment from Amazon whether such a deal was now in place.
The popular ebook reader - Amazon's bestselling product - is priced at US$259, but Canadians will have to pay for shipping plus taxes, which will bump up the price to about US$311. Given the current strength of the loonie, it is a good deal with the conversion working out to about C$330.
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Canadian expatriate authors scooped the top fiction prizes at the 2009 Governor General's Literary Awards, announced today.
Kate Pullinger, originally from Cranbrook, British Columbia, but now based in the UK, claimed her first big literary award for her book The Mistress of Nothing, a historical novel set in 19th century Egypt. She beat out stiff competition, including high-profile authors Alice Munro and the fast-rising Annabel Lyon.
The 47-year-old, Cranbrook, B.C.-bred, U.K.-based author took the $25,000 award for her eighth book, The Mistress of Nothing, a historical novel set in 19th century Egypt. The book was also longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The French fiction award went to Julie Mazzieri, originally from Saint-Paul-de-Chester, Quebec, but now living in France. She won for Le discours sur la tombe de l’idiot. (Éditions José Corti; distributed by Diffusion Dimédia).
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Linden MacIntyre has won the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel The Bishop’s Man.
The Giller is Canada’s premier prize for fiction and comes with a $50,000 awrd for the winner.
MacIntyre's win was announced today at a black-tie dinner and award ceremony in Toronto that drew nearly 500 members of the publishing, media and arts communities.
Of the winning book, the jury remarked:
“The Bishop’s Man centres on a sensitive topic - the sexual abuses perpetrated by Catholic priests on the innocent children in their care. Father Duncan, the first person narrator, has been his bishop's dutiful enforcer, employed to check the excesses of priests and, crucially, to suppress the evidence. But as events veer out of control, he is forced into painful self-knowledge as family, community and friendship are torn apart under the strain of suspicion, obsession and guilt. A brave novel, conceived and written with impressive delicacy and understanding.”
Prize-Winning Poems Need A Craftsman's Touch, Say Writers
INTERVIEW | By The Chapter & Verse Team » Penning a prize-winning poem takes a lot of time and effort, say two poets who should know.
Sheila B. Roark and Gabriel Arntt took second and third places respectively in the 2nd Annual Love Poetry Contest, organized by Canadian poet Oneal Walters. The contest was won by John B. Lee (read interview here).
"After deciding on the subject matter, it takes a lot of work, time and editing to produce a winning poem," said Roark, who has ben writing poetry for about 35 years. "It is easy to just write a poem, but it is very difficult to polish that poem into a piece that will win."
Arntt concurred. "It takes a lot of perseverance and an eye for detail to craft a poem and then to go over it again and again to edit it and read it out loud, to hear how it sounds. Once you do that, it just takes a talent for grouping words together and a little bit of luck."
Roark said there are a few things that separate a hobby poet from a serious writer.
NEWS | By The Chapter & Verse Team »The Return to the Hundred Acre Wood heralds the start of a new generation of Winnie-the-Pooh fans. It was 80 years ago that the last AA Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh collection, The House at Pooh Corner (1928), was published with illustrations by EH Shepard.
Custodians of Milne’s estate authorized the resurrection of Christopher Robin (Milne) and the extended Pooh family and handed the legacy and creative assignment to British author David Benedictus. The project, a 10-year labour of love, takes readers once again into the world of Robin and Pooh in the company of their animal friends, including Tigger, Piglet, Owl and Eeyore. New to the charmed circle is Lottie the Otter. The characters come alive in the drawings by British writer-illustrator Mark Burgess in the tradition and style set by Shepard.
NEWS | By The Chapter & Verse Team » Legendary singer Anne Murray will launch a 13-city Canadian book tour in support of her much anticipated autobiography, All of Me. The book will be available on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.
In her revealing autobiography, the Canadian icon tells, for the first time, the story of her astonishing forty-year career in show business - from her humble origins in the tragedy-plagued coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, to her arrival on the world stage with her first gold record in 1970 and her subsequent string of top-selling hits. All of Me is a candid retrospective of the extraordinary success achieved and the prices that had to be paid.
NEWS | By The Chapter & Verse Team » First-day sales of Dan Brown's latest novel The Lost Symbol, which went on sale on September 15, exceeded one million hardcover copies in the US, Canada, and the UK, it was announced.
First week sales for the three countries passed the two million mark, beating out Bill Clinton's My Life in the record books.
INTERVIEW | By The Chapter & Verse Team » Aspiring writers need to keep the faith, read and write a lot, and never lose faith, says award-winning Canadian poet John B. Lee.
The Toronto writer recently won the 2nd Annual Love Poem Contest, organized by poet Oneal Walters. His winning poem was titled In the Heat of the Sun and the Cool of the Moon, I Love. It describes a sexual moment with layered details that are soft and calm.
A much-published and highly-respected poet, Lee says that for him, "poetry is a calling."
By the Chapter & Verse Team » John B. Lee has won first place in the 2nd Annual Love Poem Contest, organized by Toronto poet Oneal Walters.
In his winning poem, In the Heat of the Sun and the Cool of the Moon, I Love, Lee describes a sexual moment with layered details that are soft and calm.
Sheila B. Roark took second spot with I Have You and Gabriel Arntt was third with Maelstrom of Love.
The contest challenged writers to pay tribute in verse to a special person in their lives. It was aimed at discovering talented poets; appreciating their skill and announcing them to the literary world. According to the brief provided to poets, the purpose of the contest was not to define, but to write beyond the perceived definition and show all aspects of love.
REVIEW | By Erika Ayala » AuthorVikas Swarup first garnered popularity from the success of Q & A, his debut novel on which the movie Slumdog Millionaire was based. Now for a much-anticipated comeback, Six Suspects, his second novel is likely to meet, if not outdo the success of Q & A.
Vikas Swarup is an extraordinary novelist, very skilled in representing his characters and vividly delving into each one's idiosyncrasies that contribute to the development of the plot. Six Suspects has a very gritty central plot and a development that won't let you put it down.
The story revolves in a murder mystery with a complicated twist. A playboy son of a prominent public figure murdered a waitress because she didn't take his order. But years later he was also found dead at a party he threw to celebrate his acquittal. There are six suspects linked to his murder, each of them just as likely to have killed their host. The interesting part about the six suspects is their occupations; a corrupt public servant; ambitious politician; a tribesman; an American tourist; a Bollywood sex symbol; and a cell phone thief. The investigation that follows the murder is most-riveting and showcases contemporary India.
Vikas Swarup does a wonderful job with Six Suspects, which deserves more attention than it has currently been getting. Six Suspects is not just about a murder mystery, but takes on a deeper criticism about India and how murder viewed, and how murderers get served. Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup is definitely two thumbs up and worthy of a standing ovation for another job well done.
• Erika Ayala works part time for a consumer review company.
Apr
27
2009
‘Why Rosa Parks Is My Hero’
By The Chapter & Verse Team » Alison Clarke,winner of the annual Women in 2009 Poetry Contest, says she chose Rosa Parks as the subject of her poem because she proved an average person could change the world, “one act at a time”.
The poem, One Of Us, earned Alison the top prize of US$110.
“It feels good to have won the contest,” she said in an interview. “I am happy being a poet, but it is nice to have the bonus of winning one.”
The winners (from left): Alison Clarke, Gabriel Arntt and Susan Martin
By The Chapter & Verse Team » Alison Clarke, a grad student at Hollins University, Virginia, US, has won the Women in 2009 Poetry Contest, organized by poet Oneal Walters in celebration of inspirational women.
Gabriel Arntt and Susan Martin won second and third place respectively.
The Writers’ Union of Canada is inviting submissions for its 13th Annual Writing for Children Competition. Entries will be accepted until April 24, 2009.
The winning entry will be the best Canadian children’s story of 1,500 words in the English language, written by an unpublished author. The winner will receive $1,500 and the entries of all finalists will be submitted to three Canadian children’s publishers.
CENTRE-STAGE: D'Costa fields questions from reporters at her book launch (top). Pictured below (left): Celebrating the sari. Pictured below (right) Seetharam entertains the gathering. Photos: ANIL FERNANDES
ByFrederick Rocque » Curry Is Thicker Than Water, Canadian author Jasmine D’Costa’s debut collection of short stories was served with a side helping of high drama at the official launch in Torontorecently.
The presentation transported more than 150 invitees to the distant shores of India, D’Costa’s birthplace, to witness the din and chaos of an era gone by. Enlisted actors playing reporters of the 1950s leapt on stage, cameras blazing as they fired a barrage of questions at the unfazed author. And the unfolding dramatization brought to life a taste of D’Costa’s India at the packed Gladstone Hotel venue.
By Ben Antao » As Goans continue to migrate and put down roots in various parts of the world, they hunger to read literature written by Goans with roots in Goa. This hunger reflects their quest for identity and their need to nurture and celebrate it.
Following the end of the Portuguese colonial rule over Goa in1961, a number of Goan writers have published novels and short stories, contributing to a growing body of Goan literature in English. I myself have published four novels and several short fiction pieces, in addition to a memoir Images of Goa, plus essays and articles bearing on Goa.
By Clarence Threepwood » We'd been thinking about John Mortimer a lot lately. First, desperately browsing at the bookstore three weeks ago for last-minute Christmas ideas for others, we found a 2005 novel of his in a remainder bin that we somehow missed altogether, Quite Honestly. We snatched it up for ourselves, rejoicing in the thought that there was, after all, more Mortimer that we hadn't read.
Second, realizing we'd carelessly forgotten to put it on our Christmas list, and having given up on finding a used copy anywhere, we ordered, received, and devoured (on Christmas Day) a new paperback copy of Mortimer's remarkable 1971 play A Voyage Around My Father.
(Pointed reminder to the management of the Shaw Festival: this play, set in the 1930s, still hasn't ever been performed in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We'd love to see Michael Ball in the title role.)
Big-name authors were conspicuously missing as the shortlist for the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction was announced in Toronto.
The three names to make the list were Elizabeth Abbott, for Sugar: A Bittersweet History (Penguin); Tim Cook, for Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917 - 1918, Volume Two (Viking); and Ana Siljak, for Angel of Vengeance: The "Girl Assassin," the Governor of St. Petersburg, and Russia's Revolutionary World (St. Martin's Press).
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Leading Canadian journalist Linden MacIntyre's Giller Prize winning novel The Bishop's Man has taken top spot on the 
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Canadian expatriate authors scooped the top fiction prizes at the 2009 Governor General's Literary Awards, announced today.
By the Chapter & Verse Team » Linden MacIntyre has won the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel 
