Finally! The first short-list of the season.

What better way to kick off the 2008 IFOA blog than by announcing the first award short-list of the Canadian book season. Let the debate and glass-throwing begin.

Early this morning (OK, it was 10am, but it felt way earlier to this guy), over tea and coffee at Ben McNally Books in downtown Toronto, the Writers' Trust of Canada revealed three high-profile short-lists: The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, The Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and The Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. The lists of lucky finalists can be found here, here and here, respectively. Winners will be announced on November 17 at a (gala) event at the Isabel Bader Theatre. 

And by the way... there was only one Stephen-Harper-gala-related joke told during the entire announcement, and it was a pretty good one by Jan Wong. 

What does this mean for IFOA, you ask? Well, for the first time, the finalists for the Rogers Fiction Prize will be reading together at the festival on October 29. Get your tickets early, because this promises to be an electrifying evening. Rawi Hage v. Patrick Lane? Rivka Galchen v. Miriam Toews? With Lee Henderson tagging in? Are you kidding?

Woops. Sorry. I've been reading The Man Game. It's pretty engrossing. (Go Lee!)

ADW

PS. Only three weeks until IFOA begins!