Welcome to 2008 and the start of another exciting season!

Before we leave 2007 behind, please let us tip our hats in your general direction. From all of us at House of Anansi Press and Groundwood Books, thank you for your incredible support. And thank you for taking our books into your homes.

And in recognition of your loyalty, we have upcoming subscription packages.

AWARDS:

Groundwood Books enjoyed another truly remarkable year. Here is a sample of the awards and accolades for 2007:

2007 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, Winner
Odd Man Out by Sarah Ellis

2007 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Winner (Nonfiction)
The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr by Nicolas Debon

2007 Governor General's Literary Award for Illustration, Finalist
Marja's Skis by Jean E. Pendziwol, ill. by Jirina Marton

Anskohk Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year Award, Finalist
Ancient Thunder by Leo Yerxa

Norma Fleck Award for Children's Nonfiction, Finalist
Genocide by Jane Springer

Books of the Year 2007, Quill & Quire
Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
Please, Louise! by Frieda Wishinsky, ill. by Marie-Louise
Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists by Raquel Rivera, ill. by Jirina Marton
Becca at Sea by Deirdre Baker
Pure Spring by Brian Doyle
Sacred Leaf by Deborah Ellis

For a full list of all of Groundwood's award winning titles for 2007, visit the Groundwood Books Awards & Reviews section.

Other Goose: Recycled Rhymes for Our Fragile Times
"Other Goose will amuse the cynical and jaded, those with an appreciation of the original and an appetite for parody."
-- Globe and Mail

". . .[illustrations] bring out a dark humour and energy that is often deficient in rhymes. . .works best with adults, teens, or sophisticated kids who can appreciate satire."
-- School Library Journal

". . .and excellent and fun introduction to the study of the environment. Although humorously portrayed, the message presented is one of deep concern. . ."
-- Library Media Connection

Pink by Nan Gregory
"There have been a variety of books lately about young girls' love of the pink and fancy. . .but this one is unusual both in its deft and fluid prose and in its acknowledgment of the underlying meaning of the fuchsia fantasy. . .[Pink] offers youngsters a thoughtful context for their dreams of possibilities beyond their grasp, and their sympathy for Vivi may help them stretch to understanding her finding of a non-pink satisfaction."
– Bull Cent Child Books

". . .meaningful and very touching. . .explores the themes of not being to have everything you want and of finding what's really important. . .vibrant illustrations. . ."
-- Daily Press (Timmins)

Weird Weather: Everything You Didn't Want to Know About Climate Change But Probably Should Find Out by Kate Evans
". . .illuminating. . .Weird Weather packs an impressive amount of information into its fun-to-read pages."
-- Ottawa Citizen

For more reviews from 2007, visit Groundwood Books Great Reviews page.

AUTHOR EVENTS:

Debbie Nathan
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Bluestockings Books
172 Allen St.
New York, NY
212-777-6028
7:00 pm

Barbara Wyn Klunder
Monday, February 11, 2007
Reading and Presentation
Burlington Public Library (Central Branch)
2331 New St.
Burlington, ON
7:00 pm
Free admission

What's your pleasure? Whether it's literary fiction or The Masseys, award-winning poetry or the groundbreaking Groundwork Guides, we're designing subscription packages with you in mind, all available for pre-order.

In 2008, it's no fuss, no muss! Stay tuned for the next newsletter for the official announcement!

2007 was a generous year for Anansi authors in honours and reviews, culminating with our awards for "Publisher of the Year" and "Editor of the Year" given by the Canadian Booksellers Association. This is just a glance of how the outside world felt about Anansi.

AWARDS:

The Globe 100, Globe and Mail

The Outlander by Gill Adamson
"Gil Adamson's prose hovers above the Earth, poetic enough not to land, but feeding off the grit."

Day by A.L. Kennedy
". . .gorgeous. . .Kennedy handles war and history with passionate intensity. . .[Day is a] deft and rich meditation on love, death, sex, friendship, hatred."

Yesno by Dennis Lee
". . .astonishing depth. . .Wild, brave, urgent poetry, not quite like anything else being written: singular, memorable, necessary."

Books of the Year, Quill & Quire

The Deserter's Tale by Joshua Key as told to Lawrence Hill
". . .a close-up view not only of those soldiers who felt compelled by their own consciences to desert, but of the war itself, in all its violent, tragic insanity. For this view alone, Key's book is an essential read."

Domain by Barbara Nickel
". . .a true poet. . .With this book, Barbara Nickel establishes herself in the first rank of her generation."

Drummer General's Award given by A Different Drummer for books of special merit:
The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Book Deserving of More Hype, Canadian Bookseller
The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Best Photo Books of 2007, American Photo
Forsaken by Lana Slezic

Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award; Lannan Literary Prize for Fiction; and the prestigious Costa Award for Best Novel
Day by A.L. Kennedy
"[We] chose A.L. Kennedy as our winner because, through an extraordinary act of ventriloquism, she describes the waste and eventual resurrection of a young life shattered by war. This book is a masterpiece."
-- Costa Award jury

Best of the Year, Winnipeg Free Press

Domain by Barbara Nickel
". . .should have been shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award. . ."

Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid by Simon Armitage
". . .vividly reminds us that blank verse is not dead or emotionally stunted."

Picks of the Year for Best Canadian Feature Film, Toronto International Film Festival
The Tracey Fragments, based on the screenplay by Maureen Medved, author of The Tracey Fragments

Top 15 Bestselling First Novels, Books In Canada
The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens
The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Top Ten Recommendations, Times & Transcript (NB)
The City of Words by Alberto Manguel

Favourite Canadian Novel, The Record
The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Best of 2007, The Record
Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison
". . .a profoundly spiritual and deeply moving meditation on how to die with dignity and honour."

Top Titles for 2007, The Chronicle Herald
Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison
". . .a meditation on mortality and a fitting work for this literary titan. . ."

Books We're Hoping to Find Under the Tree, Chatelaine
The Anansi Reader, edited by Lynn Coady

Best Fiction Audiobooks, AudioFile
Montreal Stories by Mavis Gallant. Congratulation Rattling Books!

Now for a quick glimpse into the future:

Globe and Mail columnist, James Adams, forecasts his picks for the year to come, novels by Rawi Hage (Cockroach), Bill Gaston (The Order of Good Cheer) and Shani Mootoo.

The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens has been selected as the Canadian Living February-March bookclub selection. Can't wait? Check out our own bookclub reading guide.

Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh by Maria Tippett
". . .splendidly readable. . .If Karsh insisted on providing each of these portraits with an accompanying anecdote, Tippett returns the favour by seeding her text with vivid Karsh images of Churchill, Hemingway, Kruschev, Eleanor Roosevelt, Joan Crawford and Grey Owl."
-- National Post

The Outlander by Gil Adamson
". . .a gorgeous surprise of a book, unfairly neglected by prizes and pundits alike. Stylish and compelling, this novel about a woman's picaresque flight from and toward justice is both elegant in shape and exquisitely written. A powerful and wonderful imagination blossoms here.
-- Aritha van Herk, Globe and Mail

Long Story Short by Elyse Friedman
"These coy, contemporary stories are intensely readable, hilarious, perverse, and never less than The Novel. . .[The] fun of the story is in the telling, not the teaching, as is all good fiction, regardless of how long it is."
-- National Post

". . .darkly comic, subtly twisted. . .This is comedy but the best kind—intelligent, moral, and intensely personal."
-- See Magazine (Edmonton)

Die With Me by Elena Forbes
". . .a powerful and frightening debut novel that holds the reader tightly."
-- Star Phoenix

For a more rave reviews from 2007, visit Anansi's Great Reviews page.

AUTHOR EVENTS:

Rawi Hage
January 20, 2008
An Evening of Readings for Project Hope: Moderated by Judy Rebick
Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, ON
Doors open at 6:00 pm, event starts at 7:00 pm
Tickets available at The Toronto Women's Bookstore or through email at togetherfundraisers@gmail.com
$20.00

Feel like you're always missing out on seeing your favourite authors in person? Good news! Now they come to you!

Stuart Maclean will read Ken Babstock's poem "Fire Watch" (from the collection Days into Flatspin) on Vinyl Café, airing Saturday January 26th at 10:05 a.m. (10:35 NT) on CBC Radio Two and Sunday January 27th at 12:05 p.m. (12:35 NT) and Tuesday January 29 at 11:05 p.m. (11:35 NT) on CBC Radio One. Stuart will also play a Jim Bryson track inspired by the same poem.

Anansi author Lisa Moore is getting ready to blog about her experiences as a Canada Reads celebrity panelist! You can read all about the CBC Radio One studio showdowns (February 25–29) at the official Canada Reads site. In the meantime, why not brush up on your knowledge of Lisa Moore by picking up Alligator from our online bookstore?

Say hello to Ben Löf, January's Anansi Reader. Ben was one of our first Anansi Review Crewers and was a finalist for the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers! Congratulations, Ben!

>>Read the Anansi Reader interview with Ben Löf

NAME THE ANANSI AUTHOR CONTEST:

Print Catalogues
Download a PDF file of our Spring 2008 catalogue:

ANANSI
Hi Res (40 MB)
Low Res (6.5 MB)

GROUNDWOOD
Hi Res (35 MB)
Low Res (4 MB)