Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books is a non-fiction book by Trevor J. Adams and Stephen Patrick Clare, published by Nimbus Publishing. The first book of its type, it ranks and reviews the top 100 books written by Atlantic Canadian writers, published in the region, or focusing on the region. The 100 books chosen were selected from a list of over 2,000 titles voted on by over 700 authors, editors and critics. [1] The book includes reviews of each of the ranked titles, top-ten lists on a variety of literary subjects, and lists from guest contributors such as the premiers of the Maritime Provinces and novelists such as David Adams Richards and Ami MacKay. [2]
The book lists Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief as the greatest Atlantic Canadian book of all time. [3]
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery was second.
Four authors — Richards, Raymond Fraser, Wayne Johnston and Thomas Raddall — each had five books make the list.
Born and raised in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Trevor J. Adams lives in Halifax and is senior editor/copy chief with Advocate media. Stephen Patrick Clare is a freelance writer and professional musician, originally from Montreal.
Alistair MacLeod, was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and academic. His powerful and moving stories vividly evoke the beauty of Cape Breton Island's rugged landscape and the resilient character of many of its inhabitants, the descendants of Scottish immigrants, who are haunted by ancestral memories and who struggle to reconcile the past and the present. MacLeod has been praised for his verbal precision, his lyric intensity and his use of simple, direct language that seems rooted in an oral tradition.
David Adams Richards is a Canadian writer and member of the Canadian Senate.
The Giller Prize is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries. The prize was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Giller, a former literary editor at the Toronto Star, and is awarded in November of each year along with a cash reward with the winner being presented by the previous year's winning author.
Canadian literature is the literature of a group of multicultural communities, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, and Indigenous languages. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both geographically and historically, representing Canada's diversity in culture and region.
Raymond Fraser was a Canadian biographer, editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet and short story writer. Fraser published fourteen books of fiction, three of non-fiction, and eight poetry collections. Fraser's writings were praised by such literary figures as Farley Mowat, Irving Layton, Louis Dudek, Alden Nowlan, Sheila Watson, Leonard Cohen, Hugh Garner, and Michael Cook.
Alistair is a male given name. It is an anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic Alasdair. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the same form as Alexander. The deepest etymology is the Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (man-repeller): ἀλέξω (repel) + ἀνήρ (man), "the one who repels men", a warrior name. Another, not nearly so common, Anglicization of Alasdair is Allaster.
The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces. The prize honours Thomas Head Raddall and is supported by an endowment he willed to it. The award is currently worth $30,000, with additional finalists receiving $500 each.
Silver Donald Cameron was a Canadian journalist, author, playwright, and university teacher whose writing focused on social justice, nature, and the environment. His 15 books of non-fiction dealt with everything from history and politics to education and community development.
No Great Mischief is a 1999 novel by Alistair MacLeod.
Douglas Maitland Gibson,C.M. is a Canadian editor, publisher and writer. Best known as the former president and publisher of McClelland and Stewart, he was particularly noted for his professional relationships with many of Canada's most prominent and famous writers.
Guernica Editions is a Canadian independent publisher established in Montreal, Quebec, in 1978, by Antonio D'Alfonso. Guernica specializes in Canadian literature, poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
Julie Curwin is a Canadian writer. A psychiatrist by profession she has a BA in philosophy and political science from Mount Allison University, a BSc and MD from Dalhousie University, and a diploma in post-graduate medicine (psychiatry) from Queen's University.
Martin Fillmore Clark, Jr. is an author and retired Virginia circuit court judge.
Alexander MacLeod is a Canadian writer and professor of English, Creative Writing and Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His debut short-story collection Light Lifting was a shortlisted nominee for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2011 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. It won the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award in the 2011 Atlantic Book Awards. In 2019, he won an O. Henry Award for his short story, "Lagomorph", which was first published in Granta.
The Windsor Review is a bi-annual journal publishing new and established writers from North America and beyond. It was established in 1965 by Eugene McNamara, and was originally named The University of Windsor Review. The Windsor Review is one of Canada's oldest continuously published literary magazines, celebrating its 50th year in 2015.
The Education of Everett Richardson: The Nova Scotia Fishermen's Strike 1970–71 is a non-fiction book by the Canadian writer Silver Donald Cameron, first published in 1977 with a new edition released in 2019. It ranked 47th in a listing of Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books where it was praised for giving a "gripping account" of "this pivotal moment in Canadian labour history".
The Canadian Authors Association is Canada's oldest association for writers and authors. The organization has published several periodicals, organized local chapters and events for Canadian writers, and sponsors writing awards, including the Governor General's Awards.
Paul Gagné is a Canadian literary translator currently working in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With his wife Lori Saint-Martin, he has translated over seventy English language books into French, including the works of authors such as Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood and Naomi Klein. He holds a master's degree in French literature from Laval University.
Alison MacLeod is a Canadian-British literary fiction writer. She is most noted for her 2013 novel Unexploded, a longlisted nominee for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, and her 2017 short story collection All the Beloved Ghosts, a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2017 Governor General's Awards. MacLeod is an occasional contributor to BBC Radio 4, the Sunday Times and the Guardian, and has appeared at numerous literary festivals in the UK and internationally.
David Huebert is a Canadian writer from Halifax, Nova Scotia.