Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

2018 Books in Review – 8 For 18.  By Stephen Weir (original story from edited version in the Caribbean Camera)   Caribbean Canadians and authors who write about Caribbean issues in the Great White North continued to hold their own on the Canadian literature scene this year. From award-winning novels to children’s titles about the black experience, these are top 10 books that book sellers, the media and of course the Caribbean Camera recommend you consider before the clock ticks out on 2018. Esi Wins  - Photo From The Giller Prize 1. WASHINGTON BLACK.   Esi Edugyan’s latest novel is truly the book of the year in Canada, and, is also racking up sales the US and the Caribbean.   No, she isn’t Bajan – the BC writer’s parents are from Ghana -- but she nails 19 th  century slaving Barbados better than anyone else in Canada ever has.   Her most recent novel,  Washington Black , won this year’s $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize...

70-year old Rachel Manley in the running for the $40K   Amazon Canada First Novel award. By Stephen Weir Author and Mayor John Tory at Word on the Street   Rachel Manley is a different sort of bird when it comes to the shortlist for this year’s   $40,000 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.  Not only is the 70-year old the oldest writer in the book contest, she is the only finalist who has won a Governor General Award for writing (nonfiction), and, her book –The Black Peacock - has   flown under the radar of the country’s book journalists. Since its publication in the fall of 2017, her book has gotten just a single major review in Canada and it was in the Caribbean Camera newspaper. And, oh yes, she is the only shortlisted author that has royal Jamaican roots. The Amazon Canada First Novel Award recognizes the outstanding achievement of a Canadian first-time novelist.   There are six authors in the running for this large award...