2021 Richard Carver Award goes to Sarah Beauchamp, Honourable Mention to Vera Maloff
By Contributor
The Nelson and District Arts Council and Elephant Mountain Literary Festival are thrilled to announce this year’s recipient of the Richard Carver Award for emerging writers.
Writer Sarah Beauchamp has been chosen by an arms-length jury to receive the award this year.
Beauchamp’s letter of nomination highlighted the quality of her work, community involvement and support of the literary community.
From the nomination letter: “She writes about experiences that are uniquely her own, yet familiar and touching to the reader. She explores her identity as an Indigenous and settler woman with tender honesty.”
Jurors reviewed Sarah’s poem “On the Topic of Grief”, which prompted these words from a member of the jury: “Engaging and beautiful, it was an honour to read such prose.”
This year the jury also awarded an honourable mention to author Vera Maloff for Our Backs Warmed by the Sun: Memories of a Doukhobor Life. The jury was impressed with Vera’s debut memoir and had this to say:
“The stories are vital and the skill in which they were told is absolutely gripping.The narrative voice is so strong.”
The awards will be handed out on Sunday, July 11th at 2pm (online) at the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival’s wrap-up event. Richard’s daughter Jocelyn Carver, an arts lover herself, has continued the family’s generous support of this award and will present the award.
The Richard Carver Award was created in 2009 by the Arts Council. Past recipients are Darcee O’Hearne, Jane Byers, Susan Dancer,Avi Silberstein, Donna MacDonald, Alanda Greene, Diana Morita Cole, Rayya Liebich, and Danielle LaRocque, with an honorable mention for Sarah Louise Butler. In 2018 the award was bestowed on Morty Mint and Ernst Hekkanen in recognition of their substantial contributions to Nelson’s literary scene.
Richard Carver was invested in the community as a lover of the arts and the Kootenays. He was a mover and shaker on the board of the Nelson and District Arts Council, and the primary sponsor of this award named in his honour.
The Nelson and District Arts Council and Elephant Mountain Literary Festival would like to thank all of the nominees, nominators, and the jury for all their work and commitment to the literary scene here in the district.
To attend the award presentation please register for a free ticket at emlfestival.com.
For more information, please visit the Nelson and District Arts Council website at www.ndac.ca. Inquiries may be sent to: richardcarveraward@gmail.com.
Photo Caption: Writer Sarah Beauchamp has been chosen by an arms-length jury to receive the 2021 Richard Carver Award for emerging writers. — Submitted
