Fall from Grace a finalist in Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards

Local author Wayne Arthurson already has a few reasons to celebrate, and he’s hoping for one more.

A Killing Winter, his third novel – and second to feature journalist/gambler/investigator Leo Desroches – was released in April and is already receiving positive reviews.
Then, in early May, Arthurson received his official Indian status. He is now ready to take the next step of applying to his father’s band, the Norway House Cree in Manitoba, to become a full-fledged member there.

To top it off, Fall from Grace, Arthurson’s acclaimed second novel, is shortlisted for the prestigious Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards. Sponsored by the Edmonton Public Library, the competition offers one of the richest literary prizes in the country, with the winner determined by online voting.

Two of the five writers vying for the $10,000 prize are Aboriginals, a fact that makes Arthurson particularly proud. “I don’t know Dawn Dumont that well, but to have two Aboriginal writers out of five on the shortlist? I think that’s fantastic.”

Like anybody else, Arthurson says he could really use the money. But he’s also happy to be included in this elite group of nominees.

“They’re all well-known, well-respected writers, some of them with multiple awards,” he said. “Alberta’s writing scene is one of the best. It’s incredible the amount of success Edmonton writers have had. If the city’s music scene was doing as well as the writing scene, we’d be the new Seattle.”

Arthurson is proud to be recognized as an Alberta writer, whether he’s in Canada or south of the border. He grew up on army bases in Calgary and Edmonton and apart from three years in Germany, has lived his whole life in the province. It’s fitting that both Fall from Grace and A Killing Winter are set in Edmonton.

The ARC award is important in part because it is decided by popular vote, he said. “Most book prizes are given out by juries, but this one is awarded by the people who buy our books and the people who read them. That’s all most writers want, is to reach as many readers as we can and to please them all.”

A longtime journalist, Arthurson said he sees his freelance career continuing alongside his novel writing. He encourages other writers to just stay with it. Whether you’re Aboriginal or not, he said, “Don’t give up. It’s your story, whether it has anything to do with your cultural background or not. Just write what you care about.”
And don’t give up after your first rejection letter. Wayne spent two and a half years submitting
Fall from Grace to Canadian publishers, and a few months trying south of the border.

“You have to develop a thick skin,” he said. “It’s not personal. All you have to do is find one or two people who like it, but you have to search and find the right people.”

In Fall from Grace, Arthurson introduces readers to Leo Desroches, a talented journalist with a gambling problem. Leo is a former street person who becomes obsessed with the prospect of a serial killer targeting Aboriginal prostitutes. The book has been well received in the U.S. and here at home as well.

The other finalists for the ARC award are:
• Nobody Cries at Bingo, by Dawn Dumont (Thistledown Press)
• Freddy’s War, by Judy Schultz (Brindle & Glass)
• The Antagonist, by Lynn Coady (House of Anansi Press)
• In the Suicide’s Library, by Tim Bowling (Gaspereau Press)

Online voting closed on May 31, and the ARC winner will be announced at the 2012 Alberta Literary Awards gala in Calgary on June 9.

Photo caption: Edmonton author Wayne Arthurson’s second novel Fall from Grace has been nominated for the prestigious Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards.