Fiddlehead News Roundup

Emily Bossé

Journey Prize Finalist!

Congratulations to Emily Bossé on being one of three shortlisted finalists for The Writers' Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize for her story "Last Animal Standing on Gentleman's Farm" first published in The Fiddlehead no. 258 (Winter 2014). The story is one of twelve that will be published in the Journey Prize Anthology. Also appearing in the anthology is another story originally published in The Fiddlehead. Charlie Fiset's story "Maggie's Farm" appeared in no. 261 (Autumn 2014).

The anthology is set to be published by McClelland & Stewart on October 6. The winners will be announced November 3.

Fiction Editor Mark Jarman at Kingston Writers' Festival

Roch Carrier, Mark Jarman, and Stephen Smith

Fiction editor Mark Jarman is just back from the Kingston Writers’ Festival where he participated on a panel discussion called "He Writes!  He Scores!  Seeking the Best Hockey Book Ever," moderated by Larry Scanlan.

Mark reports that Roch Carrier talked charmingly about his classic book The Hockey Sweater, Stephen Smith read from his new book Puckstruck, and he read from his story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks" and his hockey novel Salvage King Ya!

Mark also reports that at the end there were great questions from young and old in the audience. One question was what player the panelists would like to be. Harold Snepsts popped into his head, and Mark says, "like me, not the smoothest defenceman, but a long career and a good Fu Manchu mustache." Roch Carrier of course chose Rocket Richard.

Contributors from 2015 Publish Books

A.W. Marshall, whose story "In the Highest Limbs" appeared in our Spring 2015 issue (no. 263), has just had his debut book of stories Simple Pleasures published by ELJ Publications. Summer 2015 issue contributor Kevin Hardcastle also just had his debut collection Debris published by Biblioasis. His story "Thought you were fast" appeared in the recent all-fiction Summer issue (no. 264).

And two poetry contributors to our forthcoming Autumn issue (no. 265) have new books forthcoming later this fall, including Rachel Rose (Marry & Burn, Harbour) and Dan O'Brien (New Life, CB Editions).

And Speaking of New Books and Prize Nominations

Poetry editor Phillip Crymble has had his first collection Not Even Laughter published by Salmon Poetry.

Former poetry editor Claire Kelly's poem "Western U-Haul Gothic" was shortlisted for The Walrus Poetry Prize.

Fiddlehead News

No. 258 Winter 2014

The Fiddlehead's Winter 2014 issue has just been reviewed at New Pages! Reviewer Chip Livingston says that it "turns on moments of awareness of awareness, capturing the instants we catch ourselves catching ourselves, revelations of self to self, to the reader, and to other characters. It’s charming, this subtle focus moving from piece to piece, from poem to prose to poem to poem, and the sequence suggests this international journal from the University of New Brunswick is edited with precision." Read the full review here!

Myler Wilkinson, the winner of our recently-announced fiction contest was celebrated in his hometown newspaper, The Castlegar News, with a very nice profile. Wilkinson's story "Blood of Slaves" appears in our Spring 2014 issue. Read the article here.

Myler Wilkinson

Congratulations to Craig Davidson and Adam Dickinson, both UNB alumi and past Fiddlehead contributors, for being shortlisted for Trillium Awards. Davidson is a finalist for his Giller-shortlisted novel Cataract City and Dickinson for his Governor General's Award-nominated poetry collection The Polymers. View the shortlists here.

And finally, recent Fiddlehead editorial assistant Richard Kemick has been interviewed by Echolocation. Kemick recently graduated from the MA (English and Creative Writing) program at UNB. Read the interview here. And keep an eye out for a few of Richard's poems in this summer's poetry issue of The Fiddlehead!

Announcing the Winners of our 23rd Annual Literary Contest!!!

Stay tuned for upcoming interviews with Kayla Czaga and Myler Wilkinson!

A New Website to Follow, Plus Exciting News from a Recent Contributor

Want to keep updated on the literary culture of New Brunswick, the home province of The Fiddlehead? Our fiction co-editor Gerard Beirne has begun curating a website devoted entirely to New Brunswick writing, The New Brunswick Literary Times. In the website's own words: 

The province of New Brunswick has a rich literary history. The New Brunswick Literary Times provides up-to-date news of writers from or currently living in New Brunswick in a magazine format via articles available online.

One recently featured article caught our attention: an interview at Open Book Ontario with former long-time poetry editor Robert Gibbs.

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The Fiddlehead is pleased to report that Orlando Ricardo Menes, a contributor to our recent all-poetry summer issue, has recently won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize for Poetry. His winning manuscript, Fetish, contains the two poems we published in No. 252, "Parable" and "Panegyric for the Condor." Congratulations Orlando!

Congratulations to Nick Thran

Congratulations to Nick Thran! His book Earworm won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry (English Language).

Nick was a poetry co-editor for The Fiddlehead this past year. His most recent publication in The Fiddlehead was in no. 244, the summer 2010 poetry issue.

Congratulations to Shane Neilson and Ken Babstock!

Congratulations to Shane Neilson winner of the silver in the poetry category at the National Magazine Awards for his poems "St. Anthony's Fire" and "The Perfect Fatherhood." Both poems were published in The Fiddlehead 249 (Autumn 2011).

And congratulations also to  Ken Babstock, Canadian winner of the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize.Babstock's most recent Fiddlehead publication in no. 244 (Summer 2010) included the title poem from his Griffin-nominated book, Methodist Hatchet.

The Fiddlehead contest issue – no. 251 – is out!

Rejoice! Spring has arrived and so have the winning stories and poems from The Fiddlehead’s 21st annual contest! Celebrate with all the contest winners and other authors by picking up and reading this fresh and lively issue.

In addition to wonderful poems and stories from the contest, you will also find stories from Yasuko Thanh and Grant Buday and poems from John Wall Barger, Karen Enns, Zachariah Wells, Heather Cadsby, Yvonne Blomer, and John Donlan among others. There are also reviews of books authored by M. Travis Lane, Madeline Bassnett, Sheila McClarty, Priscilla Uppal, Sue Goyette, Edward Riche, Steve Noyes, and Heather Jessup. The cover artwork is from David McKay’s "Fiddlehead Season," a beautiful watercolour painting.

Nominations Congratulations!

Congratulations to Shane Neilson, who has been nominated for the 35th annual National Magazine Award in poetry for his poems, "St. Anthony's Fire" and "The Perfect Fatherhood." Both poems were published in The Fiddlehead 249 (Autumn 2011). The 2012 National Magazine Awards will be presented on June 7th in Toronto.

Also congratulations to Ken Babstock, Phil Hall, and Jan Zwicky, who are the three Canadian finalists for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize. All three have published poems in past issues of The Fiddlehead and Zwicky is a past Fiddlehead poetry editor (and current associate editor). Babstock's most recent Fiddlehead publication in no. 244 (Summer 2010) included the title poem from his Griffin-nominated book, Methodist Hatchet.

Fiddlehead Story goes to the Big Screen!

In 2004 Craig Davidson won The Fiddlehead's Short Fiction Prize for his story "28 Bones." Now eight years later his story is being turned into a French-language film staring Academy Award-winning actor Marion Cotillard and directed by Oscar-nominated Director, Jacques Audiard.

DE ROUILLE ET D'OS (Rust and Bone) premieres on 17 May 2012.

It starts in the north. Ali (Schoenaerts) ends up with his 5-year-old son Sam, whom he barely knows. Homeless, penniless and friendless, Ali finds refuge with his sister in Antibes. There, it's immediately better, he lives in her garage, she takes care of the little things and it's nice..... Click for trailer

Fiddlehead Congratulations

Congratulations to Paul Tyler, winner of this year's Archibald Lampman Award for his first collection of poetry A Short History of Forgetting (Gaspereau Press 2010). Two of his poems, "Somewhere near the end of song" and "Manitoba Maples"were published in The Fiddlehead 241 (Autumn 2009).

Congratulations and Exciting News about Fiddlehead Contributors

Congratulations to Alexander MacLeod! 

His collection of short stories, Light Lifting (Biblioasis)won the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award at the Atlantic Book Awards. The story, “Wonder About Parents,” which appeared in The Fiddlehead 245 (Autumn 2010), is from that collection.

  Congratulations to Sheila McClarty! 

Her short fiction collection High Speed Crow (Oberon) won Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book at Manitoba Book Awards. Two stories, “The Government Ditch” and “Stolen,” from that collection appeared in The Fiddlehead in issues no. 242 (Winter 2010) and 246 (Winter 2011).

Holly Luhning, who wrote The Fiddlehead blog posting “Documentary Fiction and The Death of Donna Whalen” recently had her new novel Quiver reviewed on MSNBC Today Books’ website.

National Magazine Award Nomination

Congratulations to Sue Goyette, who has been nominated for the 2011 National Magazine Award in poetry for her three poems, “Disrupted,” “Recession,” and “Fog: Forgotten Names Begin Their Journey Home.” All three poems were published in The Fiddlehead 244 (Summer 2010). The 2011 National Magazine awards will be presented on June 10 at the annual banquet in Toronto.

The Fiddlehead 247 is Out!

Here in New Brunswick, there are signs of spring everywhere, the snow is rapidly becoming a distant memory, the fiddlehead ferns are popping up along the riverbanks, and The Fiddlehead contest issue – no. 247 – is out!

In addition to wonderful poems and stories from the contest, you will also find stories from Michael Laverty and Diana Swennes Smith and poems from Cory Brown, Geoffrey Cook, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Kim Trainor, Melissa Walker, and Darryl Whetter among others. There are also reviews of books authored by Robert Bringhurst, Chris Hutchinson, Vanessa Moeller, Michael Eden Reynolds, and Terence Young. The cover artwork is from Glenn Priestley’s "The Hill," which was commissioned in 2010 for the University of New Brunswick's C.C. Jones Student Services Centre by the Art for New Spaces Committee.

Pick a copy today and join the celebration!

Congratulations & News – It’s a busy week at The Fiddlehead!

Five poems first published in The Fiddlehead were selected for inclusion in The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2010, edited by Lorna Crozier and published by Tightrope Books.

The five authors and poems are:

• Michael Johnson’s “The Praise of the Village Idiot” (The Fiddlehead 238)
• Robyn Sarah’s “Messenger” (The Fiddlehead 239)
• David Seymour’s “The Photo Double” (The Fiddlehead 238)
• Paul Tyler’s “Manitoba’s Maples” (The Fiddlehead 241)
• David Zieroth’s “How Brave” (The Fiddlehead 239) 

Congratulations to all five authors!

The Fiddlehead’s fiction co-editor, Mark Jarman, recently made an appearance on the CBC radio show "The Next Chapter" to discuss Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow. Check out the episode here!

If you happen to be in Fredericton this weekend, come on down to the Small Press & Community Fair on Saturday, November 13, from 12 – 5pm. The fair is being held at Gallery Connexion’s new space in the Chestnut Complex (440 York Street, Fredericton). Staff from The Fiddlehead will be there—so drop by and say hello.

Congratulations to Daryl Hine, Alexander MacLeod, and Sandy Pool

Congratulations to Daryl Hine and Sandy Pool! Their poetry collections, &: A Serial Poem and Exploding into Night, were shortlisted for Governor General’s Literary Award in Poetry. Six poems from &: A Serial Poem were published in The Fiddlehead 244 (Summer 2010), while Sandy Pool’s poem, “Storge/Neikos,” will debut  in The Fiddlehead 246 (Winter 2011).

Congratulations to Alexander MacLeod!  His debut collection of short fiction, Light Lifting, has been shortlisted for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize.  His story “Wonder About Parents,” which appears in Light Lifting, is in The Fiddlehead autumn issue 245.  Alexander MacLeod will be reading from Light Lifting at the University of New Brunswick in Alumni Memorial Lounge on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m

Congratulations to Emma Donohue

 Congratulations to fellow Irish transplant Emma Donohue on her Man Booker nomination for her novel Room (a bidding war for the novel's rights was won by Picador in the U.K., which paid a reported £1 million).

Had the pleasure of her company here last year as part of the UNB Reading Series. The winner is to be announced on October 12 - so fingers crossed.

Gerard Beirne
Fiction Co-Editor

Congratulations to James Langer!

James, The Fiddlehead's poetry co-editor, won the 2010 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for Best First Poetry Book for his collection Gun Dogs (House of Anansi Press).

The Fiddlehead Wins National Magazine Award

The National Magazine Awards winners have been announced and The Fiddlehead is pleased to say all five of its nominees did well.

In the Fiction category Steven Heighton's story, "Shared Room on Union" won gold. And "Back to Disney" by Jeff Park and "The Spanish Hour" by J. M. Villaverde were honourable mentions. All three stories were published in The Fiddlehead 240 (Summer 2009).

In the Poetry category honourable mentions were given to Anne Compton’s three poems, "Stepping Off," "It starts with names," and "We waited" from The Fiddlehead 239 (Spring 2009) and to Vanessa Moeller’s poetry sequence,"Abandoned Postcards Found in Hotel Room 464," from The Fiddlehead 241 (Autumn 2009).

Congratulations to everyone!