‘The Golden Mean’ up for Bad Sex in Fiction Award
LONDON — Canadian author Annabel Lyon’s lauded novel The Golden Mean has earned a spot on Britain’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award short list.
London’s Literary Review nominated the book and seven others for the 18th annual award.
Lyon, who lives in New Westminster, B.C., won last year’s Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for The Golden Mean, which follows Greek philosopher Aristotle as he tutors a young Alexander the Great.
The novel was also shortlisted for last year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award.
Other books on this year’s Bad Sex short list include Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas and Maya by Alastair Campbell.
The list is rounded out by A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee, Heartbreak by Craig Raine, The Shape of Her by Rowan Somerville and Mr Peanut by Adam Ross.
The award will be presented to the winner on Nov. 29. Last year’s winner was Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones for a passage that compares a sexual encounter to battle with an one-eyed mythological monster.
Cardinal, Laraque among ‘Canada Reads’ panellists
TORONTO — Corner Gas star Lorne Cardinal, former NHLer Georges Laraque and decorating diva Debbie Travis will be among the panellists for the 10th edition of Canada Reads.
The CBC show features Canadian celebrities arguing the merits of homegrown books.
This year’s panel will also include Sara Quin from indie singing duo Tegan & Sara and CNN broadcaster Ali Velshi.
Cardinal will argue on behalf of Unless by Carol Shields and Laraque will defend The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou.
Quin will push for Essex County by Jeff Lemire and Travis will fight for The Birth House by Ami McKay.
Velshi will throw his support behind The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis.
When selecting the titles for the 10th edition of the show, CBC asked Canadians to choose essential novels of the past decade. Panellists chose their books from that list.
The three hour-long debates will be broadcast on CBC Radio One on February 7, 8 and 9..
Group of Seven highlights Sotheby’s auction
TORONTO — It was standing room only at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, as Sotheby’s Auction offered up a wide variety of Canadian art, with major paintings by members of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries highlighting the sale.
J.E.H. MacDonald’s canvas Wind Clouds, which was shown in the first Group of Seven exhibition in May 1920, was pursued by at least seven bidders and sold for an impressive $589,000.
Other works from the same collection included Frederick Horsman Varley’s painting A Mountain Road through Lynn Valley, BC, which sold for $232,500, more than doubling the high estimate.
Emily Carr’s Forest Interior drew spirited bidding and sold for $261,250.
Another major highlight from the Group of Seven included a striking panel by Lawren Harris, Algonquin Birches, which sold for $111,750 falling within pre-auction estimates.
