National Poetry Month will once again go out with a bang, as 13 poets will see their work published in the April 26 Free Press and launch their work on Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location as part of the Writes of Spring project co-presented by Plume Winnipeg.
The poets whose work will be featured in the Writes of Spring feature and launch are Jaime Laye Bouw, Jean Chicoine, Denise Cook, Rosanna Deerchild, T.J. Evangelista, Hannah Godfrey, Anne Le Dressay, Dana Medoro, Marjorie Poor, Spenser Smith, Ava Stokke, Andrew Vasius and Demeter-Anenome Willow.
Over 500 poems were read by Ariel Gordon and Charlene Diehl (of Plume Winnipeg) from more than 100 submissions; all selected poets save Deerchild are making their first appearance in Writes of Spring.
● ● ●
While her shorter work has been widely lauded and published by writing prizes, literary journals and magazines, Winnipeg author Zilla Jones is about to take the next step on her writerly career.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location, the Journey Prize-winning Jones launches The World So Wide, her first full-length work of fiction. The book follows a Winnipeg-born woman with a Grenadian mother and (absent) white father who studies opera in London in the 1960s. When she travels to Grenada in 1983 to perform, she gets tangled up in the Grenada Revolution as the Americans invade.
Jones, who was named one of the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s 2025 Rising Stars on April 16, will be joined at the launch by Chimwemwe Undi, Canada’s poet laureate.
● ● ●
Max Kerman may not be an author you’ve heard of before, but his voice is probably familiar to many.
The Hamiltonian is the frontman of the multiplatinum band Arkells, and in his first book Try Hard: Creative Work in Progress, he pulls back the curtain on his creative process and what does and doesn’t work for his musical output. He also shares some behind-the-scenes stories about life on the road and the voices that have inspired him.
Kerman will visit McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location on Friday at 6 p.m., where he’ll sign copies of Try Hard. Note: this is a book signing only, not a sit-down launch.
● ● ●
The late Murray Sinclair’s Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation is one of five finalists for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize at the 2025 B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes.
Sinclair’s book, written with Sara Sinclair and Niigaan Sinclair, was published weeks before his death in November 2024. The Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize is awarded to the a book that “contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia and Yukon.”
The other finalists for the award are The Knowing by Tanya Talaga, Death by a Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat, A Haida Wedding by Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson with Robert Davidson and Wildlife Congregations: A Priest’s Year of Gaggles, Colonies and Murders by the Salish Sea by Laurel Dykstra.
The winners for the B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes will be announced in September; to see the finalists in all categories, which were announced on April 10, visit wfp.to/WKK.
● ● ●
On the other side of the country, the winners of the BMO Winterset Award, which celebrates Newfoundland and Labrador writers, were also announced April 10.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the prize, and as a result organizers presented two $12,500 awards rather than one. On the fiction side, Susie Taylor won for her short-story collection Vigil, while on the non-fiction side Lisa Moore and Jack Whalen won for Invisible Prisons: Jack Whalen’s Tireless Fight for Justice.
● ● ●
Book lovers, mark your calendars: next Saturday, April 26, is Canadian Independent Bookstore Day.
In addition to being a great time and excuse to support independent booksellers, there’s a chance you could nab some fun stuff. Whodunit Books (163 Lilac St.), for example, has a “golden ticket” that will be hidden in the store; the winner will get a year’s worth of audiobooks from Libro.fm.
For more on the initiative, see indiebookstores.ca/cibd.
books@freepress.mb.ca
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
