I've been meaning to activate this blog for a while now, but I guess I needed a good excuse.
This week I was given one - I was totally shocked but very happy to find out that my debut book of short stories has won the 2011 Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book, Caribbean and Canada region!
As part of the prize, I'll be going to Sydney, Australia in May along with the other regional winners where we'll all participate in the Sydney Writers' Festival (May 16-22). At the end of the week, the two overall winners (one for each category - Best Book and Best First Book) will be announced.
I'm of course thrilled and excited but also still feeling rather stunned - it really was a total surprise, not least because I was in such impressive company: the other five books on the regional shortlist are all excellent and many had been nominated for and/or won other major literary prizes.
Big shout out to my amazing editor Jon Paul Fiorentino (who also designed the book's cover) and everyone at Insomniac Press!
Congratulations, Katrina - i am thoroughly enjoying Bird Eat Bird, and it was a pleasure to meet you at Synapse.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kathleen! It was a pleasure to meet you too and to hear you read from your wonderful novel.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post I must say.. Simple but yet interesting and engaging.. Keep up the awesome work!
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