Nikolski is a novel by Canadian writer Nicolas Dickner. Originally published in 2005 in French, an English edition translated by Lazer Lederhendler was published in 2008. [1]
The original French edition was a nominee for the 2005 Governor General's Award for French fiction, won the Prix Anne-Hébert in 2006, and won the Prix littéraire des collégiens, a prize awarded by Quebecois post-secondary students, in 2006. [2] The English translation won the 2008 Governor General's Award for French-to-English translation, and the 2010 edition of Canada Reads . [1]
The novel's story is set in Montreal and revolves around three seemingly disconnected characters (Noah, Joyce and an unnamed narrator) whose lives eventually intersect in the city's Plateau neighbourhood. The title derives from one of the novel's recurring motifs, a broken compass which consistently points to the small village of Nikolski, Alaska instead of the Magnetic North Pole.
Nancy Louise Huston, OC is a Canadian novelist and essayist, a longtime resident of France, who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English.
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The Prix Anne-Hébert is a Canadian literary award, presented annually to the best first work of fiction in French by a writer from Quebec. The award was created by Robert Desbiens in 2000 to honour writer Anne Hébert following her death.
Lazer Lederhendler is a Canadian literary translator and academic.
Nicolas Dickner is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for his 2005 novel Nikolski, which has won numerous literary awards in Canada both in its original French and translated English editions. His books have been translated into over 10 languages.
Louis Hamelin is a Canadian journalist and fiction writer. He won the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction in 1989 for his novel La Rage, and was nominated for the same award in 1995 for his novel Betsi Larousse, ou l'ineffable eccéité de la loutre and in 2006 for his short story collection Sauvages.
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