Hannus!

Just found out that my lovely and talented wife, Rachel Lebowitz, has been nominated for a BC Book Prize for her first book, Hannus, a multi-genre biographical work on the life and times of Ida Hannus, Rachel's great- grandmother, who emigrated from Finland as a teenager and was part of the utopian socialist community of Sointula on BC's Malcolm Island. The prize Hannus is up for is the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize for a book that contributes to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia. Obviously, this is terrific news for Rachel and her book, which everyone should buy and read!

Also up for a prize, in the poetry category, is Steven Price for his widely-lauded Anatomy of Keys, a poetic biography of Harry Houdini, which is one of my favourite books of poetry published in recent years.