As a young woman living in Peterborough, Ontario, I never would have thought that one day I’d move to Margaret Laurence’s home province of Manitoba.
If a fortune teller had also muttered in my ear that I’d win a prize named after her for my second novel, I might have been skeptical too (yet also hopeful).
In the early 1970s, Margaret Laurence moved to Lakefield, Ontario, a village near Peterborough, where I went to university.
There, she spent three summers in a cabin on the Otonabee River, writing
The Diviners. In the book, she describes the river as “flowing both ways” and it’s true.
I thought of that every time I stood on the Dublin Street footbridge that crosses its width or the wider Hunter Street bridge that leads into East City and looked down at its gleaming surface.
An angsty 20-something year old – around the same age as Mel is in
This Has Nothing To Do With You – I was writing a lot of poetry and the thought of completing a novel seemed immense and scary and impossible.
Those were tough times for me, if I’m honest. And I think they were tough times for Margaret, too. That gorgeous novel (which I need to re-read) became her last, published when she was one year older than I am now. She died at only age 60.
Needless to say, with this admiration and respect, I’m so proud and honoured that
This Has Nothing To Do With You has won the annual Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, announced by the
Manitoba Book Awards last week. I walked into some really hard things for this book and worked my butt off on it for four years.
I’m also extremely proud to have earned the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, made possible by a bequest from the late John Hirsch, co-founder of the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and its first artistic director from 1958 to 1966. This prize is selected by a jury of senior members of the Manitoba writing and publishing community.
To them, to John Hirsch and his family, to Margaret Laurence, to the Manitoba Arts Council, to the Book Awards, to the amazing
Freehand Press and Kelsey Attard who published the book, to fellow writers, and, of course, to readers, I say a deep, deep thank you.
And to all winners and nominees, my congratulations! We are a province rich in creative work and stories, both ancient and contemporary, and I am so often grateful that I ended up here and have the privilege of calling this place on Treaty One territory my home.
Do check out the other writers and books,
right here.
One such creative gem in the fabric of our community is
At Bay Press.
This spring, they’ve published writer Brad Smith’s new novel,
The Goliath Run, which will be featured tomorrow on my Pandemic Response Reading Series. It has been described as “a fine-tuned attack on the extremes of Donald Trump’s most rabid supporters” by Arthur Ellis Award-winner John Lawrence Reynolds, so you won’t want to miss this reading!
Brad will be joined by
M.C. Joudrey, publisher at At Bay Press, and a writer, along with guest host
Ariel Gordon, essay writer, poet, and publicist at U of M Press. You can expect an evening of discussion about Brad’s book, publishing. small presses, and the influence of the pandemic and current politics upon all of it. Do join us! Register for this event
right here.
Hi Lauren – I completed your 9 steps, and am on my way, thanks for that, but I have an urgent message. Yesterday I came across 2 courses that usually cost about $300 combined but are on special. The urgency is that the discounted price ends today, January 8, 2021. I bought them, and haven’t started them yet, but I thought you or your clients might be interested. They are delivered by Udemy at and one is by Barbara Kyle and the other is by Jessica Brody.
Thanks for taking my course, John, and really glad to hear that it’s got you writing! I deleted the link you posted because it led somewhere weird… but perhaps other readers will check out these course creators. 🙂
Congratulations Lauren! You have been hard at work writing since you were a young woman and deserve the recognition. You are also a versatile writer from poetry to novels and I know there is more to come.
Thanks, Aldona! 🙂
Congratulations Lauren! I recall your indomitable spirit when I met you in Orillia and then that big move to Manitoba. I now follow your posts and am thrilled for you. Margaret Lawrence’s book The Diviners is my all time favourite novel so now to recognize your talent along side Margaret Lawrence is just the best news today. Well done! Well deserved. I love this good news story.
Thanks so much, Susan. I hope that things are well in Orillia! Much love to you! 🙂
Wahoo!!! This is wonderful news. I’m not at all surprised. It is a fantastic book. So well deserved.
Thanks, Angie!!! <3
Brava! Beyond thrilled for you- but honestly, not surprised one bit. You are such a hard-working, talented, and gifted writer. Enjoy the fruits of your labour, my friend. So well deserved!
Thanks, Margo 🙂 I hope you and John are staying well and safe! Sending love!
Have you visited Margaret’s home in Neepawa? She is buried there and her stone angel is close by.
So happy for you!
We popped by briefly once but need to go again! Thanks 🙂
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Bravo! This Has Nothing To Do With You is a fabulous book and I can’t imagine how difficult it was to go the places you needed to go to honour that story. Bask in this accomplishment. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks so much, Leanne 🙂
Congratulations, Lauren. I was mesmerized by the pain in that book at so many levels. I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the end and some semblance of order came through for Matt and Mel. I am grateful that as an adult I was able to let the pain of my parents go. They were only people who tried to do the best they could, even though it created lots of chaos to work through. My story was never as deep as what these two young people had to go through, but the lesson is the same – that in trying to protect our loved ones, we can hurt them even more than the truth ever could.
Great job – and congrats again. So well deserved. 🙂
Thanks so much for your thoughtful words, Linda! It’s readers like you who make it all worthwhile 🙂
Congratulations, Lauren!
Thanks, Cathy! So glad we’ve been able to meet 🙂