Today, Rakuten Kobo Inc. announced the shortlist for the fourth annual Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, which honours the best new books by debut Canadian authors in three categories: Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Genre Fiction (Mystery this year). Shortlisted in the Literary Fiction category is Jocelyn Parr’s Uncertain Weights and Measures and shortlisted in the Literary Fiction Category is Lauren McKeon's F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism, both published by Goose Lane Editions.
About Uncertain Weights and Measures
The novel takes place in the heady days of post-Revolution Russia, when belief in a higher purpose was everything. Through beautifully incisive prose, Jocelyn Parr vividly captures the ambiance of 1920s Moscow and the frisson of real-life events while also spinning a captivating tale of a love torn apart by ideology and high-stakes politics.
Uncertain Weights and Measures won the Quebec Writers’ Federation Concordia University First Book Prize, was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, and was named a favourite book by the National Post. The novel was acquired and edited by Goose Lane’s fiction editor Bethany Gibson and was first published in September 2017.
"Uncertain Weights and Measures goes for it and gets there."
— Quill & Quire
About F-Bomb
F-Bomb takes readers on a witty, insightful, and deeply fascinating journey into today's anti-feminist universe. Through a series of dispatches from the frontlines of the new gender wars, Lauren McKeon explores generational attitudes, debates over inclusiveness, and differing views on the intersection of race, class, and gender. She asks the uncomfortable question: if women aren't connecting with feminism, what's wrong with it? And where can it go from here?
F-Bomb was named a Book of the Year by The Hill Times, and by Mitzi Bytes author Kerry Clare. It was acquired by Karen Pinchin and was first published in September 2017.
"F-Bomb isn’t a typical creative non-fiction or narrative book — it’s blunt, honest and well-researched. It’s the book to read on the current political climate." — FLURT magazine
Other books shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in the Literary Fiction category include The Church In The Wildwood by Alanna Rusnak (Alanna Rusnak Publishing), Death and the Intern by Jeremy Hanson-Finger (Invisible Publishing), American War by Omar El Akkad (McClelland & Stewart), The Last Wave by Gillian Best (House of Anansi Press), and Dominion by Shane Arbuthnott (Orca Book Publishers).
Other books shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in the Non-Fiction category include Out Standing in the Field by Sandra Perron (Cormorant Books), Trust No Aunty by Maria Qamar (Touchstone), One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul (Doubleday Canada), How to Fall in Love with Anyone by Mandy Len Catron (Simon & Schuster), and Beautiful Scars by Tom Wilson (Doubleday Canada).
Rakuten Kobo is one of the world’s leading eReading services offering more than 5 million eBooks and audiobooks to millions of readers worldwide. Kobo’s team selected the 2018 shortlist based on book completion rates, customer ratings, and reviews. Judging this year’s Literary Fiction category finalists is Canadian screenwriter and novelist Lori Lansens, and judging this year’s Non-Fiction category finalists is Canadian science writer/broadcaster Jay Ingram.
Winners will be announced on June 19, 2018, and will receive a $10,000 CAD cash prize in addition to receiving promotional, marketing, and communications support through 2018.
About the Authors
Jocelyn Parr was born in New Zealand but grew up on Canada's West Coast. Her writing has been published in France, Germany, and Canada in magazines such as Matrix, Grain, and Brick Magazine. She now lives in Montreal, where she teaches history at Dawson College.
To learn more about Uncertain Weights and Measures, click here.
Lauren McKeon is the former editor of Canada’s progressive, independent This Magazine. Today, she is the digital editor at The Walrus and a contributing editor at Toronto Life. Lauren writes for Hazlitt, Flare, Reader's Digest, and TVO.org. One of her essays also appears in Best Canadian Essays 2017.
To learn more about F-Bomb, click here.
