1999 short list:
Richard Outram - Winner!
author of Benedict Abroad
published by St. Thomas Poetry Series
Book excerpt
Richard Outram was born in Canada in 1930. He is a graduate of Victoria College in The University of Toronto (Philosophy and English) and lives in Toronto, where he worked for many years for The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, from which he has now retired.
Richard Outram is a member of The Canadian Centre, International P.E.N. and of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. His numerous public readings include Harbourfront (Toronto) and a one-person reading at The National Library of Canada (Ottawa) coincident with the opening of an exhibition of his published work. His numerous published books include: Exsultate, Jubilate, 1966; Turns and Other Poems, 1975; The Promise of Light, 1979; Selected Poems, 1984; Man in Love, 1985; Hiram and Jenny, 1989; and Mogul Recollected, 1993.Richard Outram's work has been published in many magazines and periodicals in Canada, England and the U.S.A. He has written the text for a commissioned song cycle for voice and piano, South of North, composed by Srul Irving Glick and performed by James Westman, baritone and Albert Krywolt, piano in December 1998.
Dennis Bock
author of Olympia
published by Doubleday Canada Ltd.
Book excerpt
Dennis Bock wrote much of his collection of linked short stories, Olympia, at the Yaddo and Banff writers' retreats. He lived in Spain for many years and has now resettled in Toronto.
The book Olympia was first published by Doubleday Canada and by Bloomsbury U.K. It appeared in an American edition in Spring of 1999, published by Bloomsbury U.S. The book was selected to be read on CBC Radio's Between the Covers. The author has written a radio play for CBC's This Morning - based on characters in the book.
Dennis Bock's previously published works of short fiction have appeared in Quarry, Queen's Quarterly, Canadian Fiction Magazine, Descant, and Grain. His short story "Olympia" was selected for inclusion in The Journey Prize Anthology and the Oberon Anthology. His book reviews have also appeared in The Globe & Mail. He is currently working on a novel, A Man of Principle, to be published by Doubleday Canada in Spring 2000.
James Chatto
author of The Man Who Ate Toronto: Memoirs of a Restaurant Lover
published by Macfarlane Walter & Ross
Book excerpt
The restaurant industry has certainly changed since James Chatto enjoyed his first meal at Ed's Seafood Restaurant in the late 1970s. As an assistant stage manager for a touring theatre company, James came to Toronto to work with his godfather, actor and food critic, Robert Morley, on a production of A Picture of Innocence at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1977. He credits his godfather for introducing him to the wonderful and exciting world of restaurants and for introducing him to Toronto where he fell in love with the woman who became his wife.
In 1986, when he and his family returned to Canada, he decided to parlay his appetite into yet another career. As food writer and restaurant columnist for Toronto Life and food editor at Gardening Life, James has been writing about food and drink for the past decade. His food, wine and travel writings appear frequently in leading magazines and newspapers in Canada, the United States and England. Formerly Enroute magazine's wine columnist for four years, he now writes regular wine and spirits columns for the LCBO's Food & Drink, where he also acts as creative consultant and contributing editor. He is the author of two previously published books, A Kitchen in Corfu and The Seducer's Cookbook.
Stuart McLean
author of Home From The Vinyl Café
published by Penguin Canada
Book excerpt
Storyteller Stuart McLean is the bestselling author of The Morningside World of Stuart McLean, Welcome Home: Travels in Smalltown Canada and Stories from the Vinyl Café. Whether he is creating extraordinarily entertaining essays on popsicles and hot dog vendors in The Morningside World of Stuart McLean, using his considerable narrative skill to bring the nation a captivating picture of itself in Welcome Home, or offering readers a delightful look at the trials and tribulations of the extraordinary people at everyone's favourite fictional record store in Stories From The Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean can tell a story like no other. Last fall, Stuart McLean returned with Home from the Vinyl Café: A Year of Stories, an all-new collection of witty, irreverant, and heartwarming tales. He is also the editor of When We Were Young: A Collection of Canadian Stories.
The stories in Home from the Vinyl Cafe first appeared on Stuart McLean's immensely popular CBC radio program "The Vinyl Café" and have been featured in the cross-country "Vinyl Café Road Show". Stuart McLean also teaches broadcast journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Derek McCormack and Chris Chambers
authors of Wild Mouse
published by Pedlar Press
Book excerpt
Derek McCormack is an avid collector of carnivalia. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Dark Rides (Gutter Press, 1996), and Halloween Suite (pas de chance, 1998). His stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including the recently released Concrete Forest (McClelland & Stewart, 1998). His latest work, Wish Book: A Catalogue (Gutter Press) was launched in June 1999. Derek lives in Toronto, where he works at an independent bookstore..
Chris Chambers regularly performs his poetry to appreciative Toronto audiences. His poem God Save the Greatest Underwater Swimmers won the 1997 Fiddlehead Magazine national sports poem contest. Chris is one of three poets published in Up and Down Bloor Street (Inkbooks 1997). His debut poetry collection Lake Where No One Swims (Pedlar Press) will be launched in December 1999.
Wild Mouse has been recognized for its design excellence (Poetry category) in the 1999 Alcuin Society Citation competition.
