It was an honour to be on the jury of the Ottawa Book Awards this year, with fellow jurors Conyer Clayton and Faizal Deen. We considered more than 80 submissions in the English Fiction category, including poetry and prose for all ages. With such a talented pool of authors in Ottawa, it was difficult to… Continue reading Judging the 2022 Ottawa Book Awards
It is an honour to have my latest middle-grade comedy, 28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6, selected as a 2016 Diamond Willow Nominee! For those who may not know, Willows are not just gorgeous trees. They are also Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards (SYRCA). Every year, the Willow Awards offer Saskatchewan students an opportunity to vote… Continue reading The Willow Awards
Okay, it has been three weeks and you might be wondering if I was kidnapped by the Storyfest kids I mentioned in my last post. No such luck - I had to leave Hudson when the event was over. It was lovely, BTW, and if I'd had my act together sooner, I'd have blogged about… Continue reading My First Short Story in Twenty Years
If you're a children's book writer, a teacher, a librarian, or a student in Ontario, you probably know about the Forest of Reading, Ontario's children's choice book award program. (It's like the Hackmatacks on the East coast, the Red Cedars on the west, and the Willows and MYRCA in between, but larger in scope and… Continue reading Forest of Reading Honours
Catherine Austen 