New Brunswick author Shortlisted For The Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize

Established in 1997, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize recognizes Canadian writers of exceptional talent for the year's best novel or short-story collection. The Writers Trust of Canada announced yesterday the shortlist for the award, which
includes Maclean ($14.95), by New Brunswick author Allan Donaldson. Maclean was published by Halifax-based, Vagrant Press in September 2005 to critical acclaim.

The Globe and Mail said, “This book merits a media frenzy.”

The Chronicle Herald called Maclean, “A finely detailed study of a man buffeted by fate whose story stays with you long after you put the book down…a small, hard but brilliant gem of a book.”

And the Daily Gleaner said, “Maclean may be modest in scope, but readers should be extravagant in their praise for this fine novel.”

The winner of the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize will receive a cash prize of $15,000 while the remaining finalists will receive $2000. Nine awards will be presented on Wednesday, March 1, in Toronto at the fifth annual Writers’ Trust Awards event. Total prize money awarded that night to Canadian writers will be $133,000, making the event one of the richest awards nights in Canada.

Allan Donaldson was born in Taber, Alberta, but grew up in Woodstock, New Brunswick. In his teens, he worked summers wheeling cement, tamping ties and laying steel on the railway, working on a rock crusher and an asphalt plant, and operating a jackhammer. On scholarships, he studied English literature at the University of New Brunswick and the University of London. He spent a teaching career in the English Department at the University of New Brunswick. He is the author of a book of short stories, Paradise Siding.

About Maclean: Twenty-five years after the Great War, John Maclean is still struggling to carve out a meaningful existence in his small New Brunswick hometown. One late summer day he embarks on a seemingly prosaic search for a little money, a little booze, and a birthday gift for his mother. But he’s haunted by memories—of war, of his cruel father, of opportunities wasted and lost—and each moment is shadowed by his bleak history. Shell-shocked and
alcoholic, Maclean is divided between a lonely present and a violent past.

Maclean was one of two novels released by Vagrant Press in Fall 2005, its inaugural season. An imprint of Nimbus Publishing, Vagrant Press is dedicated to publishing fiction about Atlantic Canada and supporting writers from Atlantic Canada.

Shortlist for the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize

Joseph Boyden (New Orleans, Louisiana) for Three Day Road, published by Viking Canada

Michael Crummey (St. John’s) for The Wreckage, published by Doubleday Canada

Lauren B. Davis (Princeton, New Jersey) for The Radiant City, published by HarperCollins

Allan Donaldson (Fredericton) for Maclean, published by Vagrant Press

Rabindranath Maharaj (Toronto) for A Perfect Pledge, published by Knopf Canada