Christopher Pratt’s Rescheduled Book Launch for ORDINARY THINGS

Wednesday, October 21, 2009. 7-9 pm
Bianca’s, 171 Water St. St. John’s, NL

Hors D’oeuvres will be served, all are welcome.

click here to read more about Ordinary Things

Breakwater Releases Christopher Pratt’s New Book: An evocative 160-page “Self-portrait”

Insightful and thought-provoking journal entries, from the 1950s to 2007, on the creative process, art, life, and province of renowned Canadian artist Christopher Pratt. Ordinary Things is laced with astute observations that summarize the artistic process, and the motivations and contemplations of not only an artist, but any man. It contains slices of truth about life and Newfoundland itself, and the dynamic world of the ordinary, on which Pratt has drawn so heavily on in his work. These passages have an obvious appeal to anyone in the arts, though they will have a deep resonance with a broader audience as well.
Ordinary Things paints with words and evocative self-portrait of a renowned Canadian artist.

 

Click here to buy or read more about Ordinary Things

Breakwater Releases Syr Ruus’s Award-winning Novel, LOVESONGS OF EMMANUEL TAGGART

Things no longer look the same for 45-year-old Emmanuel (“M”) Taggart. Thinking he has a bad case of the flu, M leaves the office to embark on a road of self-discovery. Although the doctors find nothing medically wrong, M becomes convinced that he is suffering from an undiagnosed terminal disease, a brain tumour perhaps. During his brief period of “illness,” Emmanuel is increasingly peevish, irritable, mean, selfish, and nearly impossible for his long-suffering wife, Emily, to withstand. Moreover, M runs into Juhan Lipp, an old man for whom he immediately feels a unique and filial attachment. Juhan seems to have acquired the wisdom that M is lacking. Lovesongs of Emmanuel Taggart is a comedy, focusing upon the antics and perceptions of an ordinary person as he finally comes to terms with his own humanity.

WINNER OF THE HR (BILL) PERCY PRIZE.

“Lovesongs of Emmanuel Taggart explores a blurred divide between the commonplace and the surreal.”
- Fred Armstrong, CBC Broadcaster and author of Happiness of Fish

“[A] highly readable novel, full of memorable characters … She writes with wit and grace … The efforts of other characters to solve Emmanuel’s “problem” provide little solace to him, but plenty of humour for the reader.”
- Joan Givner, critic and author

Click Here to buy of read more about Lovesongs of Emmanuel Taggart

Three, THREE! Breakwater Titles Just Made This Year’s ReLit Award Longlist

As described by the Globe and Mail, The ReLit awards are “the country’s pre-eminent literary prize recognizing independent presses.” This is a a well-regarded award, and Breakwater is thrilled to have three titles nominated this year!

Nicole Lundrigan’s The Seary Line and Glen Carter’s Angels of Maradona have been nominated for the fiction award, and Boyd Chubbs’ Feral Domicile for the poetry award.

The Seary Line by Nicole Lundrigan

“[The Seary Line] is a character-driven tale and Lundrigan’s gift is to create memorable ones. There’s more than enough suspense to keep the story moving and the settings are great.”
- Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

Click here to buy or read more about The Seary Line

Angels of Maradona by Glen Carter

“With his taut prose, and gripping storytelling, Carter delivers a stunning page-turner.”
- Rick Mofina, two-time Arthur Ellis award-winning author of A Perfect Grave.

Click here to buy or read more about Angels of Maradona

Feral Domicile by Boyd Chubbs

“All golden books are Bibles — art illuminated and brilliant with vision. Few poets succeed in making such books. Among English Canadians, there are Leonard Cohen and Gwendolyn MacEwen. And let us add Boyd Warren Chubbs.”
- George Elliot Clark, Governor General’s award winner for poetry

Click here to buy or read more about Feral Domicile

Great New Review of BY THE RIVERS OF BROOKLYN from the Chronicle Herald.

“Morgan-Cole has an easy, confident writing style that takes you quickly into the story … and her ability to show her characters’ small victories and large defeats with equal ease makes you trust her, and want to find out what happens to the people she has created.”

- Sharon Hunt, the Chronicle Herald

Click here to read the full article here.

Click here to buy or read more about By the Rivers of Brooklyn

“A Beautiful Collaboration Between Two Wonderful Newfoundland Artists.” The Chronicle Herald Raves About WHERE GENESIS BEGINS

“Some books stay with you and you will return to them again and again. Where Genesis Begins is one of those finds. This beautiful volume — with lovely art reproductions — is a seamless collaboration. The clarity of Dawe’s poems, particularly his poems about women, is very affecting, evoking as only fine poetry can, strong and lasting images. The sense of loss in these poems is equalled by the sense of loss in many of Squires’ pieces. Like Dawe’s poems, Squires’ paintings are beautifully rendered. He is an honest and brilliant painter. He has no need to gussy up his work with gimmicks. Dawe’s poetry and Squires’ art capture something which will bring me back again and again to this book. they capture the inherent strength in the people and the place, a strength that keeps them enduring.”

- Sharon Hunt, The Chronicle Herald

To buy or read more about Where Genesis Begins, click here

Annamarie Beckel’s “Latest and Greatest.”

Breakwater has gotten some very positive feedback this month from book clubs about Beckel’s novel Silence of Stone, her “latest and greatest … it was unanimous that the book was [her] best and of great skill.” It seems to have even inspired a group field trip to Marguerite’s Island, the prominent setting of the book. Nothing pleases us here more than direct reader feedback!

Click here to buy or read more about Silence of Stone

“A Deft and Impressive Work of Fiction”: The Western Star laudes Morgan-Cole’s BY THE RIVERS OF BROOKLYN

The character-driven, Austen-esque By the Rivers of Brooklyn is a deft and impressive work of fiction in which the prose style is spare – controlled and assured. It’s also a large and ambitious work about leaving home and cultural dislocation, themes relatable especially to Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians. It’s also about guilt and the search for (and being able to accept) grace and redemption …

One might contend that Newfoundlanders have rarely been as capably or a truthfully represented on the page as they are here.

By the Rivers of Brooklyn is about people coping with change; more specifically, it captures emblematically the experience of Newfoundlanders throughout history who have gone away to find work and prosperity. But doing so always implies success or failure at making peace with the idea of “home” – returning to it, or making a new one. It’s a purely mental process either way, and Morgan-Cole captures it with breathtaking acuity.”

- Darrell Squires, The Western Star

 

Click here to buy or read more about By the Rivers of Brooklyn

Overreaders Anonymous Pick Beckel’s SILENCE OF STONE as Their Read of the Month!

 It seems hype has jumped the border this month!

Overreaders Anonymous, a book group in nothern Wisconsin, have chosen Annamarie Beckel’s novel, Silence of Stone, as their pick of the month for July’s discussion!

 

Click here to buy or read more about Silence of Stone.

Breakwater Titles Chosen for CBC Radio Noon’s Summer Reading List!

Trudy Morgan-Cole’s By the Rivers of Brooklyn, Percy Janes’ classic House of Hate, and Glen Carter’s Angels of Maradona have all made CBC Radio Noon’s summer reading list!

See the full list here: http://www.cbc.ca/radionoonnl/

Kirby Walsh’s A Trip to Labrador Ranking #4 on the Chronicle Herald’s Bestseller list!

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Books/1129600.html

Select praise for A Trip to Labrador:

“Kirby’s book is heart-rending … Engagingly readable and highly recommended … A revealing read for anyone interested in Labrador history.”
-Darrell Squires, The Western Star

“A fascinating read for anyone with the slightest interest in Labrador or the Grenfell mission … Moore gives us a warts-and-all portrait of a man [Grenfell] who has been alternately demonized and deified in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
- Robin McGrath, The Telegram

Click here to buy or read more about A Trip to Labrador

More Great Press for Trudy Morgan-Cole’s By the Rivers of Brooklyn!

 ” This novel includes multiple characters and an ambitious timeline, but it coheres around a core of ‘home.’ Home is a place — St. John’s, newfoundland — and also an idea and an ideal that keep the characters in orbit, to that city, and to each other … This novel is a novel both meaty and delicate; you can dig right into it, and still find yourself savouring turns of plot, turns of phrase … The writing is deft and enjoyable … as well, the detailed descriptions of so many settings, including Coney island in July 1928, or the St. John’s airport in March 1983, continuously and vividly bring the story alive.”

 - Joan Sullivan, The Telegram

Click here to buy or read more about By the Rivers of Brooklyn.

Nicole Lundrigan Receives Honourable Mention for the 2009 Sunburst Award

We’re thrilled for Nicole, whose book has received nothing but praise since its release last September. So much so that Globe critics and awards jurors seem to be blurring the lines between genres just to rave about her!

“[The Seary Line] is a character-driven tale and Lundrigan’s gift is to create memorable ones.”                               – The Globe and Mail

“Richly rendered through a crafted style that is never affected or merely ornamental … something extra permeates this novel.”                                                                 – Atlantic Books Today          

“The novel’s greatest strength, and the reason to read it, is to experience the lives of such intricately wrought characters.”                                                                                     – Newfoundland Quarterly              

(Breakwater would also like to congratulate local author Kate Story for making the longlist as well!)   

To buy or read more about The Seary Line, click here.

Morgan-Cole’s Latest Novel Worth Fighting For!

Breakwater has been informed that two customers were spotted fighting over the last copy of Trudy Morgan-Cole’s latest novel, By the Rivers of Brooklyn, at Chapters in St. John’s last week. This book is barely a month out on the shelves, and already readers have been going out of their way to give us, and the author, glowing feedback.

To buy, or read more about By the Rivers of Brooklyn, click here

Get Out to Some Breakwater Signings This Month and Buy Your Summer Reads

July 03 – Calvin Evans, Silk Sails. 7-9. Coles in the Avalon Mall, St. John’s.

July 04 – Calvin Evans, Silk Sails. 2-4. Chapters, St. John’s

July 04 – Joan Edwards, This is Our Place … 2-4. Coles, Avalon Mall, St. John’s

July 05 – Trudy Morgan-Cole, By the Rivers of Brooklyn. 2-4. Coles, Avalon Mall, St. John’s

July 05 - Glen Carter, Angels of Maradona. 1-3. Chapters, St. John’s.

July 05 – Calvin Evans, Silk Sails. 1-3. Costco, St. John’s

July 11 - Kirby Walsh, A Trip to Labrador. 1-2. Coles in Halifax Shopping Centre.

July 11 – Kirby Walsh, A Trip to Labrador, 3-4. Chapters in Sunnyside, NS.

July 12 – Trudy Morgan-Cole, By the Rivers of Brooklyn. 1-3. Costco, St. John’s.

July 18 – Glen Carter, Angels of Maradona. 1-3. Costco, St. John’s