Calgary authors, theatre company celebrate Governor-General Award nominations
It was a good week for a couple Calgary authors and the city's main theatre company as well.
Calgary authors Suzette Mayr and Susan Ouriou both were nominated for Governor-General Awards earlier this week.
Mayr's award-winning novel The Sleeping Car Porter was nominated for English fiction, while Ouriou was nominated for translation from French to English for her work on Michel Jean's Kukum.
Forgiveness, the award-winning drama by Hiro Kanagawa, which received its world premiere at Theatre Calgary (in a co-production with the Vancouver Art Club), was nominated for drama.
"On behalf of the Canada Council for the Arts, I congratulate this year’s 70 finalists and I also thank the broader community of authors, illustrators, translators, publishers, booksellers, librarians and readers, whose combined enthusiasm for books contributes to the growing vitality and diversity of literature in Canada," said Canada Council director and CEO Michelle Chawla, in a release.
Suzette Mayr accepts her award as the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston)
Theatre Calgary also expressed jubilation at the news.
"We're excited to say Hiro Kanagawa's Forgiveness has been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama!!!!!," it said on Theatre Calgary's Facebook page, along with a message posted by the Arts Club Theatre Company.
"Forgiveness was one of our Silver Commission scripts based on Mark Sakamoto's book Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents and then co-produced with Theatre Calgary. We couldn't be happier for Hiro to get this well-deserved recognition. Congratulations!"
Yoshi Bancroft and Kevin Takahide Lee in Theatre Calgary's world premiere production of Forgiveness (Photo: Courtesy Theatre Calgary/Moonrider Productions)
Forgiveness won a number of Calgary theatre awards last year, including multiple Bettys and Calgary Critics awards.
The Sleeping Car Porter has already won the 2022 Giller Prize.
The awards winners will be announced Nov. 8.
For a complete list of nominees, go here.
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