TORONTO – September 25, 2001 – Amazon.com and Books in Canada today presented the 2000 First Novel Award and a cheque for US$5,000 to this year’s winner, Eva Stachniak, author of Necessary Lies, at a ceremony held in Toronto. Ms. Stachniak was chosen from a group of five finalists, all of whom had their first novels published in the year 2000.
The First Novel Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by first-time Canadian novelists, has served as a springboard for the careers of many of Canada’s most renowned authors. Previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, Nino Ricci, and Deborah Joy Corey.
Ms. Stachniak, who was born in Poland and immigrated to Canada some 30 years ago, weaves life in Eastern Europe and the West in her winning novel, Necessary Lies. The book is published by Dundurn Press and is available in both hardcover and paperback at Amazon.com.
The other finalists in this year’s program were Steven Galloway for Finnie Walsh (Raincoast Books), Scott Gardiner for The Dominion of Wyley McFadden (Random House), Susan Juby for Alice, I Think (Thistledown Press), and Lydia Kwa for This Place Called Absence (Turnstone Press).
“What all of these novels have in common is great writing and use of language, memorable characters, pace, surprises, the ability to make the reader laugh or cry, and the intelligence to make me say ‘yes, I knew that, but I never quite felt that before’,” said W.P. Kinsella, preliminary judge for the 2000 First Novel Award, and 1982 First Novel Award winner for Shoeless Joe, which was later adapted into the Hollywood movie Field of Dreams.
The other judges for the 2000 award were: Joel Yanofsky, a literary columnist and book reviewer for The Montreal Gazette; Julie Keith, an award-winning Canadian author and president of the Quebec Writers’ Federation; and Carmine Starnino, a respected Canadian poet whose second collection recently received the Canadian Author's Association Award for Poetry.
“We are thrilled with the calibre of these novelists and to have the opportunity to support this vital literary award,” said Marven Krug, general manager, Canada, Amazon.com. “I think one of our customers best describes the power of the winning novel, Necessary Lies, in a review on our site: ‘The particular strength of this book lies in its ability to bring to life not only the story, but also the scents, textures, colours, and other details of the world in which the characters live and try to make some sense of their lives.’”
Books in Canada will soon be accepting submissions for the 2001 First Novel Award.
About Books in Canada
Books in Canada was launched in 1971 to promote Canadian literature and to offer a forum for Canadian writers. Over the course of the last 30 years, Books in Canada has played a signal role in fostering and developing an independent and rich Canadian literary life. The Books in Canada print archive of reviews, profiles, essays, interviews, features, photographs and caricatures represents the largest extant collection of such material on Canadian fiction. The publication has acted as both a beacon for Canada's emerging literary life and an organizing focus of intellectual talent. With the growing maturity and sophistication of the Canadian literary and intellectual scene, Books in Canada is refashioning itself to reach a larger audience of literate Canadians and to disseminate Canadian literature to an international audience. The challenge that we face at Books in Canada is to juxtapose the best Canadian writers with the best writers around the world. Our larger vision is to boldly promote Canada as a rich, multicultural, open and prosperous society that can act as a model for countries and different people around the world.
About Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards, to its more than 35 million customer accounts worldwide. Amazon.com seeks to be the world’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com operates four international sites: www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de and www.amazon.co.jp, which offer a complete line of French, British, German and Japanese media, cultural and other products for sale around the world. Amazon’s wireless platform, Amazon Anywhere, is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing wireless access to Amazon.com and the company’s international sites.