Thursday Book Beat- Ferrante Drama, Spotlight on Indigenous Land Issues, and some MORE Literary Award Nominations

Happy Thursday, book lovers! The leaves are falling, the air is chilling, and the sweaters are being taken out of drawers. But I am packing for my vacation to Barcelona, Nice, and Italy for which I leave tomorrow! My mom tells me the leather in Florence is great, but if I’m spending big bucks on anything, it’s on food! And like a true bibliophile I have packed some new reads to get through while I’m sitting on a beach (with a margarita in hand). On my travel list is On Writing by Stephen King, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, and a beautiful poetry book called I Wrote This For You, and Only You by Jon Ellis.

If you’re a fan of Elena Ferrante, author of the My Brilliant Friend series, you probably experienced some second hand fury upon hearing the news that Italian journalist Claudio Gatti revealed the true identity of the author of the bestselling series. The books are wildly popular and have been rumoured to be in the talks for a television adaption. A lot of people criticized this as another misogynistic example of the man outing the woman. Others disagree and accuse Ferrante of claiming an identity that is not her own. You can read more here on The Wall Street Journal. Tell me what you think!

Elena Ferrante Book Series, My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante Book Series, My Brilliant Friend

We talk about and try to work towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. The book Lawrence Paul Yuxpeluptun: Unceded Territories has just won the 2o16 City of Vancouver Book Award. The book itself questions the formation of Vancouver as land treaties are a huge topic in the war against colonialism. The book is a collection of illustrations and is a step forward in recognizing Indigenous artist’s works and contributions. You can read more about this year’s winner on Radio Canada International.

Madeleine Thien is on quite the roll! She has just been announced as a nominee for the Fiction Prize in the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Awards. She’s already been named for the Man Booker, Giller, and now this! Wow! This is the 80th Anniversary for the awards, which are categorized, and are presented by the Canada Council of the Arts. Winners will be announced on October 25. You can check out the nominees for all categories on CBC Radio Canada.

In exciting news, we finally got a sneak peak at the Netflix adaption of A Series of Unfortunate Events! I grew up reading Lemony Snicket’s morbid but hopeful series. I adored Violet, was more of a Klaus, and lived each of their adventures with them. I am so excited to see this adaption, and after the disappointing movie, which I felt crammed way too much into a couple of hours, I hope the Netflix series will do it justice. In the meantime, I’m going to read my favourite book in the series, The Ersatz Elevator. 

In memoriam this week, we remember Gloria Naylor who died on Wednesday at the age of 66. Naylor won a National Book Award for The Women of Brewster Place. Her books spoke to the intersection of poverty, race, and sexism.

So, I’m off to pack and do last minute errands. I hope you all have a lovely week, and Thanksgiving if you’re Canadian!

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Ashley Ash

Ashley Ash

Ashley is a proud Torontonian, third year social worker student, full time child advocate and national award winning writer. She will defend Anakin Skywalker and Jon Snow till she dies.

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