Nightwood Editions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 5, 2006

TWO NIGHTWOOD AUTHORS NOMINATED FOR LITERARY AWARDS
When I Was Young and In My Prime shortlisted for Trillium; Miraculous Hours up for Lampert

VANCOUVER / TORONTO -- Nightwood Editions is pleased to announce that two of its authors have been nominated for important literary awards. When I Was Young and In My Prime, the first novel by Alayna Munce, has been shortlisted for the 2006 Trillium Book Award; Miraculous Hours, the first poetry collection of Matt Rader, was nominated for the 2006 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award.

When I Was Young and In My Prime by Toronto resident Alayna Munce is a moving, fictional account of a young woman’s journey through the lives of her grandparents, her own very different urban reality, and the search for something ageless. Weaving together voices, diary entries, poems, conversations and lists, the book cuts to the heart of our desire for intimacy and family, for what makes life meaningful and love real.

In February, When I Was Young and In My Prime appeared on BookManager's national bestseller list for Canadian fiction; it was also a British Columbia bestseller and was featured on CBC Radio One's "Between the Covers." The Globe and Mail called the book "moving, funny, full of hard truths."

Munce has been surprised by the amount of attention the book has received. "It's an honour to have an audience, to not to be writing in a vacuum," she says. She is currently on tour in BC, with appearances in Vancouver April 6 and April 11, and in Victoria April 10.

Miraculous Hours, by Vancouverite Matt Rader, is the fierce and tender retelling of early significant-and-strange interactions with the ones we love and the world we live in. From a world where wild dogs slide like ghosts into homes, water towers are “giant blue bullets unexploded in the earth” and walls are tortured to talk, Matt Rader forms a meticulously crafted reflection on how the events, experiences and environment of our early lives shape our sense of faith, our strongest convictions, and the map of the world we carry with us.

The Gerald Lampert Award jury calls Miraculous Hours "a keenly developed collection that is at once... grounded and finely crafted... [F]rom the opening lines of this fine first collection, we are 'plunged feet-first into the anxious river' of Rader's words; swept up in their swirling current."

Rader said the news "Made my day. To the Gerald Lampert shortlist, I raise my glass."

Of the Gerald Lampert and Trillium Award nominations, Nightwood Editions publisher Silas White says, "One of Nightwood's goals is to publish work by the country's most exciting and talented new writers, and Matt Rader and Alayna Munce are among the finest. We're very pleased that Miraculous Hours and When I Was Young and In My Prime are receiving the recognition they deserve."

The Trillium Book Award was established by the Ontario government in 1987. Its goals are to "recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and writing." The award carries a $20,000 prize. Past winners include Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Timothy Findley and Anne Michaels. The winner of this year's award will be announced April 25, 2006.

The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is given in memory of Gerald Lampert, an arts administrator who took interest in the work of new writers. The award recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian in the preceding year. It is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets and carries a $1,000 prize. The winner will be announced June 10, 2006.

For more information on these books, to request a review copy
or to schedule an interview with Alayna Munce or Matt Rader,
contact Marisa Alps or Catherine J. Johnson
Tel: 604-883-2730 • Fax: 604-883-9451
marisa@harbourpublishing.com * catherine@harbourpublishing.com




			FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 5, 2006 TWO NIGHTWOOD AUTHORS NOMINATED FOR LITERARY AWARDS When I Was Young and In My Prime shortlisted for Trillium; Miraculous Hours up for Lampert VANCOUVER / TORONTO -- Nightwood Editions is pleased to announce that two of its authors have been nominated for important literary awards. When I Was Young and In My Prime, the first novel by Alayna Munce, has been shortlisted for the 2006 Trillium Book Award; Miraculous Hours, the first poetry collection of Matt Rader, was nominated for the 2006 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. When I Was Young and In My Prime by Toronto resident Alayna Munce is a moving, fictional account of a young woman’s journey through the lives of her grandparents, her own very different urban reality, and the search for something ageless. Weaving together voices, diary entries, poems, conversations and lists, the book cuts to the heart of our desire for intimacy and family, for what makes life meaningful and love real. In February, When I Was Young and In My Prime appeared on BookManager's national bestseller list for Canadian fiction; it was also a British Columbia bestseller and was featured on CBC Radio One's "Between the Covers." The Globe and Mail called the book "moving, funny, full of hard truths." Munce has been surprised by the amount of attention the book has received. "It's an honour to have an audience, to not to be writing in a vacuum," she says. She is currently on tour in BC, with appearances in Vancouver April 6 and April 11, and in Victoria April 10. Miraculous Hours, by Vancouverite Matt Rader, is the fierce and tender retelling of early significant-and-strange interactions with the ones we love and the world we live in. From a world where wild dogs slide like ghosts into homes, water towers are “giant blue bullets unexploded in the earth” and walls are tortured to talk, Matt Rader forms a meticulously crafted reflection on how the events, experiences and environment of our early lives shape our sense of faith, our strongest convictions, and the map of the world we carry with us. The Gerald Lampert Award jury calls Miraculous Hours "a keenly developed collection that is at once... grounded and finely crafted... [F]rom the opening lines of this fine first collection, we are 'plunged feet-first into the anxious river' of Rader's words; swept up in their swirling current." Rader said the news "Made my day. To the Gerald Lampert shortlist, I raise my glass." Of the Gerald Lampert and Trillium Award nominations, Nightwood Editions publisher Silas White says, "One of Nightwood's goals is to publish work by the country's most exciting and talented new writers, and Matt Rader and Alayna Munce are among the finest. We're very pleased that Miraculous Hours and When I Was Young and In My Prime are receiving the recognition they deserve." The Trillium Book Award was established by the Ontario government in 1987. Its goals are to "recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and writing." The award carries a $20,000 prize. Past winners include Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Timothy Findley and Anne Michaels. The winner of this year's award will be announced April 25, 2006. The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is given in memory of Gerald Lampert, an arts administrator who took interest in the work of new writers. The award recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian in the preceding year. It is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets and carries a $1,000 prize. The winner will be announced June 10, 2006. For more information on these books, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Alayna Munce or Matt Rader, contact Marisa Alps or Catherine J. Johnson Tel: 604-883-2730 • Fax: 604-883-9451 marisa@harbourpublishing.com * catherine@harbourpublishing.com