| Calgarians Click in Commonwealth competition
Calgary's Pearl Luke is in good company with former Calgarian Anita Rau Badami – they've been shortlisted in different competitions that form part of the 2001 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Burning Ground, Luke's first novel, is set in an Alberta fire look-out tower. The book is up for the best first book award, but faces some impressive competition: Thirteen Cents by South Africa's K. Sello Duiker, White Teeth by London writer Zadie Smith, and The Company by Australia's Arabella Edge. But as with all these literary awards, the point is not so much "winning" (though $6,800 and worldwide publicity is nothing to sniff at), the point is for readers to hear about good books and for authors to enjoy the affirmation that comes with being named alongside their peers.
As for Badami, her second novel, The Hero's Walk, has already won the regional prize for best book in the Caribbean and Canada. That means it's automatically in the running for the overall Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Badami wrote her first novel, Tamarind Mem, prior to 1996 while studying creative writing at the University of Calgary.
Those who want to follow in the footsteps of these two women might think of signing up for "Novel Idea: From Idea to Novel," a day-long course taught by Darlene Quaife at the U of C’s Continuing Education Department. The course runs Saturday, March 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Want to know more? Call 220-2952.
This Friday, March 23 it's student reading night at The Alexandra Writers' Centre. Unlike farmers, writers can cultivate their work all winter: this reading brings in the harvest of the past few months. The reading takes place at 7:30 p.m., and is free for members, with a minimal fee for non-members. For info, phone 264-4730 or see www.writtenword.org/awcs. |
