Posts Tagged ‘Canadian authors’

Author Joyce Barkhouse Named to Order of Canada

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Also following the children’s book theme…

Children’s author, Joyce Barkhouse was named as a Member to the Order of Canada on December 30. The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honour within the country and recognizes a lifetime of distinguished service.

The Nova Scotia native is honoured for her contributions to children’s literature and the Canadian literary community.  The now 95-year-old Barkhouse is most recognized for her book, Pit Pony which was made into a CBC movie and a 44-episode TV drama.

Barkhouse published her first full-length novel, George Dawson: The Little Giant in 1974 at the age of 61.

Writing skills seem to be in the genes - Barkhouse is aunt to well-known Canadian author Margaret Atwood with whom she wrote Anna’s Pet.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Canada, TV, author, awards, celebration, children's book, film, history, movies, news, prize | No Comments »

Canadians don’t know Canadian authors

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

According to this article in the National Post nearly half of Canadians can’t name a Canadian author…

Findings of the survey of 1,502 Canadians, aged 15 and older, suggest young Canadians are the most ignorant about Canada’s writers. Almost two-thirds (62%) could not name a Canadian author in an unaided exercise.

Among respondents who could name an author, Margaret Atwood was most often mentioned (22%). Among the 400 others, Pierre Berton (8%), Farley Mowat (8%) and Michel Tremblay (5%) received numerous mentions; no other author was cited by more than 4% of respondents.

Hopefully some of these people just thought some of Canadas super sellers like Eckhart Tolle, Robert Munsch, and William Gibson were of actually another nationality… much in the same way some people are surprised to find out film stars like Mike Myers, John Candy and Jim Carrey are all Canadian

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in AbeBooks, Canada, books, reading | No Comments »

Bestselling Books in Canada for 2008

Monday, December 29th, 2008

BookNet Canada has released their list of bestselling books in Canada for 2008. As with most bestseller lists for the past year, you’ll see that Stephenie Meyer dominates:

Top 5 Overall

1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle
2. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
3. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
4. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
5. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer

Top 5 Canadian Authored

1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle
2. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle
3. The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity, William Paul Young
4. The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill
5. Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay

See more of the BookNet Canada lists on the National Post website.

Visit the AbeBooks Canada site.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Canada, books, lists | 1 Comment »

Britain’s Richard & Judy Add Canadian Novels to Book Club List

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Two of ten novels chosen by  Richard and Judy for their 2009 reading list are written by Canadian authors.Richard and Judy, the popular talk-show duo and one of the greatest  influences on Briton’s reading habits, have selected Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle and Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo as part of their book club reads in 2009.

Books featured by Richard and Judy ofter become bestsellers in the UK as exemplified by Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth which after being chosen for the book club in 2006, became Britain’s fastest-selling paperback  of all time.

Richard & Judy’s 2009 Book List

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Canada, TV, UK, book club, books, lists, reading | No Comments »