Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Caribbean Writers in the Running and the Road Is Talking Ian Williams April marks the beginning of Book Award season, and this week has seen significant prize announcements from 3 different Canadian awards, impacting Caribbean authors and poets. The $130,000 Griffin Poetry Prize , announced yesterday morning in Toronto, unveiled its 2024 shortlist. This year, no Caribbean Canadian made the list, but Ishion Hutchinson from Port Antonio, Jamaica, is among the five poets vying for the prestigious June 5th poetry prize. Ishion Hutchinson The 40-year-old Jamaican poet is nominated for his book “School of Instructions,” which delves into the experiences of West Indian volunteer soldiers in British regiments during World War I. The poetry collection captures the psychological and physical challenges faced by these Black soldiers in the Middle East theatre of war, refracting their struggle against the colonial power they served. The narratives of the soldiers intertwine with the story of...

 THE THREE BIG ART SHORTS (THIS MONTH) Art Scholarship For Black Young Artists Announced The Giller Foundation (aka the Scotiabank Giller Prize) has introduced its new Giller Mantella Scholarship, a new program aimed at supporting high school graduates across Canada who are interested in pursuing further education in creative writing and literature. The scholarship will provide $10,000 each year to three would be authors and will run for an initial three-year period.   The program is specifically designed to promote diversity and inclusion among Black, Indigenous, and racialized youth who aspire to enhance their post-secondary education. By offering financial aid to students who may lack access to traditional scholarships, the initiative hopes to make a meaningful impact on their academic and career pursuits. Scholarship applications will open be accepting starting in March 2024. Eligible candidates must identify as Black, Indigenous, or racialized and demonstrate outstanding ...

Ian Williams reaches the Stars with his Poems and Books By Stephen Weir One day earlier this month Trinidadian Canadian writer Ian Williams passed over from being a rising talent to that of an honest to goodness literary star.  In September the award winning poet and author was made a spokesman for Canada’s richest fiction prize, was featured in an exclusive magazine for the country’s well-heeled and oversaw the publishing of his new book of poems. Williams was born in Trinidad in 1979 and moved to Brampton with his family when he was 9.   He earned his PHD at the University of Toronto and is currently a professor of poetry at the University of British Columbia. Last year his first novel, Reproduction won the $100,000 Giller Prize and was shortlisted for two other significant Canadian book prizes. Williams’s poetry books have been shortlisted and won many Canadian Literary Prizes!  W ord Problems , his latest book is a mash-up of poetry and prose and is currently being printed ...

One day Canada’s top novelist will write about Trinidad.  André Alexis wins the Writer’s Trust for his book set in Ontario   By Stephen Weir   Author André Alexis is the toast of English Canada.  Last Tuesday in Toronto the Trinidadian Canadian won the prestigious $50,000 Writers' Trust fiction prize for his English language novel "Days by Moonlight". This is the fourth time Alexis has been nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the second time he has won it. He is only the second author in the country to capture the award twice.  Miriam Toews also won the trophy two times. Days by Moonlight  is his seventh novel. The book is about Alfred Homer who takes a Southern Ontario road trip to investigate the story of John Skennen, a poet whose ghost haunts a few souls around the province! Days by Moonlight  is part of his  "quincunx" of five thematically linked novels. The second installment in ...