Shortlisted Titles Announced for New Brunswick Book Awards

March 22, 2022 – The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) and The Fiddlehead have announced the shortlisted titles for the 7th annual New Brunswick Book Awards. The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on Saturday, June 4, as part of WFNB’s annual WordSpring writing festival in Fredericton.

The finalists are as follows:

Mrs. Dunster’s Award for Fiction

Amber McMillan, The Running Trees (Goose Lane Editions), Fredericton

Beth Powning, The Sister’s Tale (Knopf Canada), Markhamville

Valerie Sherrard, Birdspell (DCB/Cormorant Books), Miramichi


Alice Kitts Memorial Award for Excellence in Children’s Writing

Jodie Callaghan, Ga’s The Train (Second Story Press), Campbellton; translated by Joe Wilmot, and illustrated Georgia Lesley

Leo LaFleur, The Errand: The Queen (Simply Read Books), Saint John; illustrated by Adam Oehlers

Riel Nason, Disaster at the Highland Games (Chocolate River Publishing), Quispamsis; illustrated by Nathasha Pilotte


The Fiddlehead Poetry Book Prize

Triny Finlay, Myself a Paperclip (Goose Lane Editions), Fredericton

Rebecca Salazar, sulphurtongue (McClelland & Stewart), Fredericton

Jane Tims, a glimpse of waterfall (Indie published), Rusagonis


Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick Nonfiction Award

Michael Boudreau and Bonnie Huskins, Just the Usual Work: The Social Worlds of Ida Martin, Working-Class Diarist (McGill-Queen’s University Press), Fredericton

Janet Coulter Sanford, Memories on the Bounty: A Story of Friendship, Love, and Adventure (Nimbus), Moncton

Martha Vowles, Senior Management: Parenting My Parents (Nevermore Press), Grand-Bay Westfield


More information on the various categories and the judges for this year can be found at the New Brunswick Book Awards website here.