Author | Joseph Boyden |
---|---|
Genre | Canadian literature, First Nations |
Publisher | Viking Canada |
Publication date | September 9, 2008 |
Publication place | Canada |
Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Pages | 360 p. (Viking Canada (Penguin Group) hardcover edition) |
ISBN | 978-0-670-06363-5 (Penguin Group Canada) |
OCLC | 225774686 |
Preceded by | Three Day Road |
Followed by | The Orenda |
Through Black Spruce is a novel by Canadian writer Joseph Boyden, published in 2008 by Viking Press. It is Boyden's second novel and third published book.
Through Black Spruce was named the winner of the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize on November 11, 2008. [1]
Through Black Spruce is set in Moosonee, Ontario and is narrated by Will Bird and his niece Annie Bird with the narration switching between chapters.
Will, a former bush pilot, is in a coma. Over the course of the novel Will recounts the events of the previous year which led to him being in a coma to his nieces, Annie and Suzanne. Meanwhile, in the present day, Annie recounts the previous year of her life and her sojourns to Toronto, Montreal, New York City and Moose Factory Ontario to see Will in an attempt to help to revive him from his coma.
A film adaptation by Don McKellar was released in 2018, [2] receiving two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, for Best Actor (Brandon Oakes) and Best Original Score (Alaska B), [3] winning the latter. [4]
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.
Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humourist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humourist in the world. He is known for his light humour along with criticisms of people's follies.
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André Alexis is a Canadian writer who was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, grew up in Ottawa, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario. He has received numerous awards including the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and the Trillium Award.
Susan Swan is a Canadian author, journalist, and professor. Susan Swan writes classic Canadian novels. Her fiction has been published in 20 countries and translated into 10 languages. She is the co-founder of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, the largest literary award in the world for women and non binary fiction authors, and received an Order of Canada in 2023 for her writing and its contribution to Canadian literature and for mentoring the next generation of writers.
Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for writing about First Nations culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Joseph Boyden's second novel, Through Black Spruce, follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as The Orenda.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Direction to the best work by a director of a Canadian film.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, to honour the best Canadian film cinematography.
The Canadian Screen Award for Best Costume Design is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian costume designer. It was formerly called the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design before the Genies were merged into the Canadian Screen Awards.
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Sean Michaels is a Scottish-born Canadian novelist, music critic, and blogger, based in Montreal, Quebec. Michaels’ first novel, Us Conductors won the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize. His second, The Wagers (2019), was named “a wistful and wonderful adventure” by Booklist. His third, Do You Remember Being Born?, was praised by the Globe & Mail as “wildly unique…it might be the forebear of a whole new genre of writing."
Richard Wagamese was an Ojibwe Canadian author and journalist from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario. He was best known for his novel Indian Horse (2012), which won the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2013, and was a competing title in the 2013 edition of Canada Reads.
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The Prix Iris for Best Film is an annual film award presented Québec Cinéma as part of its Prix Iris program, to honour the year's best film made within the Cinema of Quebec.
Through Black Spruce is a 2018 Canadian drama film, directed by Don McKellar. An adaptation of Joseph Boyden's novel Through Black Spruce, the film stars Brandon Oakes, Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene, Tanaya Beatty, Parveen Kaur and Roseanne Supernault. The film was shot primarily in Moosonee, Ontario.