Joel Thomas Hynes’s We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night is among the titles shortlisted for the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards

The Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced its shortlists for the Newfoundland & Labrador Book Awards. This year, work was considered in the fiction and children’s/young adult categories, with eligible books published between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017. These categories are presented in alternating years with awards for poetry and non-fiction.

The shortlists are:

Fiction
•     The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes, Bridget Canning (Breakwater Books)
•     We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, Joel Thomas Hynes (HarperCollins)
•     Crying for the Moon: A Novel, Mary Walsh (HarperCollins)

Children’s/Young Adult
•     The Puffin Problem, Lori Doody (Running the Goat/Books and Broadsides)
•     Full Speed Ahead: Errol’s Bell Island Adventure, Sheilah Lukins (Breakwater)
•     Elliot and the Impossible Fish, Rebecca North (Breakwater)

In a statement, the jury for the fiction category – writers Matthew LeDrew, Elisabeth de Mariaffi, and Sara Tilley – said, “We feel these books best represent the diversity of voice and spirit that is modern Newfoundland: at times whimsical and playful, at times equally as harsh and unforgiving.”

The winner will be announced  Sept. 5 at Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. The winners will receive $1500 and the finalists will receive $500.