Mayor's Award for Excellence in Book Illustration (Administered by the Mayor's Office & the Department of Community, Culture and Economic Development)

Paul Nicholson, Nova Scotia
Nimbus ISBN 1-55109-528-9.

This new collection by Paul D. Nicholson will remind you of places you have seen and compel you to visit those you haven't. This series of photographs captures the astounding beauty that is Nova Scotia, the popular destinations and the roads less travelled. As Nicholson combines technical mastery with artistic vision, the province's most popular scenery is captured in picture-perfect prime. From the majesty of the Cape Breton Highlands to the splendor of the Fundy cliffs, Nicholson takes the reader on a photographic journey that shines new light on the scenic tableaus of Nova Scotia's slopes and shores.

Born in Nova Scotia, Paul D. Nicholson developed an early love for scenic photography. He has long recognized Atlantic Canada as one of the most photogenic areas in the world. Most of his work to date has been centered around familiar maritime scenes. He lives in Halifax, where he runs his own business, Nicholson Photographic.

Dartmouth Book Award - Fiction (Administered by the Dartmouth Book Awards Committee)

George Elliott Clarke, George and Rue
HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-648569-3.

It was, by all accounts, a "slug-ugly" crime. Brothers George and Rufus Hamilton, in a robbery gone wrong, drunkenly bludgeoned a taxi driver to death. It was 1949, and the siblings, part Mi'kmaq and part African, were hanged in Fredericton. These facts are skeletons in George Elliott Clarke's family closet. Both repelled and intrigued by his cousins' deeds, Clarke set out to discover just what kind of forces would reduce men to crime, violence and, ultimately, murder.

George Elliott Clarke was born near the Black Loyalist community of Windsor Plains, Nova Scotia, and raised in Halifax. As a librettist, novelist, playwright, poet, screenwriter, and scholar, he has written of the Black Canadian experience in all of these genres. In 1998 he received the Portia White Prize; in 2001, his Execution Poems won the Governor-General's Award for Poetry; in 2004, he received the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award; and in 2005, his work attracted the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship Prize. His works include Whylah Falls (poetry), Beatrice Chancy (play), Québécité (libretto), and Odysseys Home: Mapping African-Canadian Literature (essays).

Booksellers' Choice Award (Administered by the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Association) / Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize (Administered by WFNS)

Donna Morrissey, Sylvanus Now
Penguin Group ISBN 0-14-301425-0.

The time is the 1950s, and the place is Canada's Atlantic coast at the edge of the great Newfoundland fishing banks. Sylvanus is a young fisherman whose desires are simple: he wants a suit to lure a girl - the fine-boned beauty Adelaide - and he knows exactly how much fish he has to catch to pay for it. Adelaide has other dreams. She longs to escape the sea, the fish, and the stultifying community, but her need of refuge from her own troubled family leads her to Sylvanus and life in the neighbouring outport. Set against the love story of Addie and Sylvanus is the sea, on the cusp of cataclysmic change. Against the backdrop of the collapse of the salt-fish industry, Sylvanus Now combines a passionate critique of government short-sightedness with a tender love story about two people who probably shouldn't have married but did.

Donna Morrissey was born in The Beaches, a small village on the northwest coast of Newfoundland. When she was sixteen, Morrissey struck out across Canada, working odd jobs from bartender to fish processor. She went on to earn a degree in social work at Memorial University in St. John's. It was not until she was in her late thirties that Morrissey began writing short stories. Since then, she has published three novels and her work has been translated into several languages. She won the 2000 Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award, the Winifred Holtby Prize, the American Library Association's Alex Award and the Thomas Head Raddall Prize. She now lives in Halifax.

Evelyn Richardson Memorial Literary Prize (Administered by WFNS)

Linda Johns, Birds of a Feather: Tales of a Wild Bird Haven
Goose Lane ISBN 0-86492-430-5 .

Birds of a Feather is a warm and funny account of four seasons in the life of a lover of wild creatures, a woman who offers a helping hand to nature's miracles. This series of true-life stories includes a unique cast of characters from Edna the rabbit to Blossom, the media-savvy hen. From raising a chick to its first feathers, to taking in a badly injured mother duck and her children, to learning how to write with a pigeon on one's arm, Birds of a Feather recounts the ups, downs, special joys and sad tragedies of caring for feathered friends day in and day out. A renowned wildlife artist, Linda has illustrated the book with more than twenty drawings.

Known locally as "The Bird Lady" for her services in rescuing and caring for birds and other wildlife, Linda Johns is a full-time artist and writer. She and her husband Mack share their woodland home with a changing gaggle of injured or disabled wild birds and a lively crew of animals. Their living room resembles an indoor forest, with two dead trees acting as perches, and a long screened porch serving as a practice flyway for convalescents. Linda Johns is the author of Sharing a Robin's Life (winner of the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction), In the Company of Birds, and For the Birds: Notes from a Woodland Studio. She lives in rural Nova Scotia.

Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award (Administered by The Book Room and Atlantic Area Publishers' Representatives)

Jeffrey C. Domm, Atlantic Puffin: Little Brother of the North
Nimbus ISBN 1-55109-518-1.

The Atlantic puffin is a familiar symbol of the Maritime region, earning it the nickname "Little Brother of the North." This wonderful story is told from the point of view of a puffin, drawing the reader effortlessly into the bird's natural habitat. Charming illustrations help bring the world of this fascinating animal to life, as Little Brother leads the reader through Domm's vibrant underwater scenes and gorgeous skies. Beautifully rendered and carefully researched, this latest installment from the popular writing and illustrating team of Kristin and Jeff Domm is a delight for both children and adults.

Jeffrey C. Domm's love of nature is evident, not only in the 30 wildlife books he has illustrated, but also in his work as a freelance artist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, and other organizations. He is Founding Director of the Nova Scotia Wildlife Society, and has directed documentaries for the Discovery Canada channel. Jeffrey holds a BFA in Design and Illustration, as well as an MA in Film, and has been teaching at NSCAD for the past decade.

The Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Administered by the Dartmouth Book Awards Committee)

Tom Gallant, A Hard Chance: Sailing Into the Heart of Love
Pottersfield Press ISBN 1-895900-68-9.

Tom and Melissa Gallant sat in their car one early summer evening in 1992. After a decade of romance and adventure, they had decided to go their separate ways. Melissa wanted to settle down and start a business, while Tom wanted to sail their schooner around the world. As they entered the intersection, their car was hit by a bus. When Tom woke up in the hospital, he learned that Melissa was in intensive care. This is the story of what happened in the months that followed. When Melissa awoke from the coma, she would not know who she was or who Tom was. She would be unable to talk, walk or feed herself. Theirs was a love facing the greatest of challenges. This is a book about redemption conferred by accepting the hardest things in life with an open heart.

Tom Gallant is a playwright, musician, scriptwriter and journalist whose poetry and prose has been included in numerous magazines and anthologies. He has logged 50,000 miles of deep water sailing in his Nova Scotian schooner. For a decade he has been a caregiver to his injured wife.

Ann Connor Brimer Children's Literature Award (Administered by the Nova Scotia Library Association)

Kevin Major, Aunt Olga's Christmas Postcards
Groundwood Books ISBN 0-88899-593-8.

Great Aunt Olga has been a collector of Christmas postcards all her life. She's ninety-five, and many of the cards come from very long ago. The Yuletide season is the occasion to share her postcards and her Christmas memories with her favorite niece, Anna. Decked out in red, Great Aunt Olga is not averse to a little fun over tea, and teaches Anna how to write her very own Christmas rhymes. It's another surprise gift, however, that will make this a Christmas that Anna will always remember.

Kevin Major is an author of books for children, teenagers and adults, including The House of Wooden Santas, Ann and Seamus and Far from Shore. He has won the Vicky Metcalf Award, the Mr. Christie's Award and has twice received the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award. His first novel, Hold Fast, received the Governor General's Award, the CLA Book of the Year Award and the Ruth Schwartz Award, was named to the Hans Christian Andersen Honor List, and was chosen as a Best Book by School Library Journal. Kevin Major lives in St. John's, with his wife and two sons.

Best Atlantic Published Book Award (Administered by the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association)

Editor, Ronald Rompkey, Reginald Shepherd & Helen Parsons Shepherd: A Life Composed
Breakwater Books, ISBN 1-55081-213-0.

Newfoundland's first publishing house, Breakwater Books Ltd., was founded in 1973. Its express purpose was to publish books and materials that preserved the unique culture of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritime provinces. To this end, Breakwater has established the Newfoundland History Series and the Newfoundland Poetry Series, as well as publishing fiction, children's books and fine art works. With a focus on the cultural heritage of Atlantic Canada, Breakwater also works with regional educators to develop curriculum resources for use in Atlantic classrooms. Since its inception it has published over 500 titles.

In Reginald Shepherd & Helen Parsons Shepherd - A Life Composed, editor Ronald Rompkey celebrates the life and work of Helen and Reginald Shepherd while assessing their contribution to the visual arts in Newfoundland. Rompkey's introduction situates the Shepherds in the post-Confederation cultural milieu. It is followed by a series of essays by journalists and art critics which include a biography, interviews with former students and a discussion of their art and respective art forms of printmaking and portraiture. The text includes contributions by local authors Peter Gard, J.M. Sullivan, Lisa Moore and Anne Pratt. The second portion of the book is richly illustrated with the work of both artists.

Ronald Rompkey is a biographer, editor and reviewer, as well as being University Research Professor in the Department of English at Memorial University. Since completing his PhD. at the University of London, he has lectured across Canada, as well as in the U.S., Britain and France. He has held positions in cultural organizations at both the provincial and national level, including the chairmanship of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. In 2004, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

Atlantic Poetry Prize (Administered by WFNS)

Anne Compton, Processional
Fitzhenry & Whiteside ISBN 1-55041-344-9.

Anne Compton's second book of poetry guides readers through a house affected by both daily life and the extraordinary, stopping only to take in the change of seasons and to prepare the outside yard for it. She writes of life and death, play and metaphysics, joy and heartbreak. As described by the Governor General's Literary Award jury, Processional "is both a still-life and a tableau, with moments of perfect stillness and of passionate arrival. This book skillfully marries history to the present, and pulls the everyday into light."

PEI native Anne Compton teaches Literature and Creative Writing at UNB Saint John, and serves on the New Brunswick Arts Board. As a writer and literary critic, she has published books and articles on 19th and early 20th century aesthetics, 17th century metaphysical poetry, as well as Canadian and Maritime literature. Her poetry has been published both nationally and internationally, and her widely-acclaimed first book of poems, Opening the Island, won the Atlantic Poetry Prize in 2003. In 2005, she was awarded the Governor General's Literary Award in Poetry for Processional.

Dartmouth Book Award - Non-fiction (Administered by the Dartmouth Book Awards Committee)

Laura M. MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Explosion 1917
HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-200787-8.

The story has been told before, but never like this. Curse of the Narrows recounts the events of the horrific Halifax explosion, telling a tale of people in an extraordinary situation, retracing the steps of survivors through the wreckage of a city destroyed. This panoramic chronicle describes the astonishing international response, telling of the generous donations of money and medical specialists made by the city of Boston, of how the horrific injuries to Halifax's children inspired startling developments in pediatric medicine, and exploring the disaster's chilling link to the atomic bomb. Filled with archival photos, defined by meticulous research and infused with a storyteller's sensibility, Curse of the Narrows is a compelling and powerful book.

Laura was born and raised in Halifax and played on the gun of the ill-fated Mont Blanc - a relic of the Halifax explosion - as a child. A former television producer, CBC radio commentator and magazine editor, she has written a novel, Kay Darling, and is co-author of Open Book: Thoughts from a Big Head (with comedian Mike Bullard). She lives in New York City.