Daily Archives: May 21, 2009

Months and Seasons Makes International Award Long List

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For those of you who regularly read my blog, you already know that I think Christopher Meeks is a talented writer. I have read and enjoyed all three of his books: The Middle-Aged Man and The Sea (reviewed here), Months and Seasons (reviewed here), and his debut novel The Brightest Moon of the Century (reviewed here). So I was thrilled to see Meeks getting some well-deserved recognition when it was announced that his second collection of short stories (Months and Seasons) made the long list for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.

Last year this award went to Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection Unaccustomed Earth. Leading names on this year’s list include Booker winner Kazuo Ishiguro, Orange Prize winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, winner of the (British) National Short Story Award and former judge for the Frank O’Connor Award James Lasdun, multiple prize-winning poet Sean O’Brien and previously short-listed authors Philip O Ceallaigh and Charlotte Grimshaw. The winner gets to boast the largest monetary award in the world for the short story form (a whopping €35,000).

The finalists will be announced in late June, with the winner selected on September 20th at the close of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Festival in Cork.

Christopher Meeks has been one of those authors who has reached out to book bloggers and has been outspoken regarding the positive impact bloggers have on marketing and readership.  To read more about Meeks and his work, visit his author website.You can also read one of the stories from Months and Seasons here.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Chris on an amazing accomplishment!

Catching Up…

…on Awards

It seems these days I am always playing “catch up” and it didn’t help that I was out of town for twelve days visiting family and friends. But, I’m back now and finally getting a chance to thank those bloggers who have nominated Caribousmom for some blogging awards in the last few weeks. Recently I’ve made a decision not to pick and choose blogs for awards, but instead to honor the blogger who honored me.

Your Blog Is Enchanting

enchantingblogawardThe only requirement for this award is that you share it with whomever you like, sharing the love is always a good thing. The blog has to show only one characteristic, caring. So, start sharing this enchanted award with five other bloggers. Let your bloggers know they have received this enchanted award.(Remember, fairies are fickle wee things, don’t incur their displeasure by ignoring their gift.)

Callista at SMS Book Reviews honored me with this one. Callista more than meets the criteria for this award – her blog just exudes caring and concern for others. If you haven’t checked it out, please do!

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The Premio Dardas Award

Premio Dardos means “prize darts” in Spanish. It is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

Many thanks to Nicole at Linus’s Blanket who dropped this award on me! Have you visited Nicole before? If you have, you’ll know that her blog is wonderfully designed and full of creative and original writing – all criteria that this award acknowledges.

supercommentsSuper Comments Award

We give and get awards for having a great blog and being a good friend. What I want to award is to those people whose comments have meant THE WORLD to me. It takes time to visit a blog and leave a comment. I wanted to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to each and every one of you who has left a comment for me on A Novel Menagerie. Also, I wanted to recognize some special bloggers whose comments have made such an impact on me. The “You Don’t Say?” Award is awarded to these special bloggers in hopes that they will pass the award along to 5-10 of their best commenters!

Jeane at Dog Ear Diary recognized me as a super comment giver – which is a high honor indeed! I love visiting other blogs and leaving comments, although I haven’t been as good at that lately as I’d like to be. Caribousmom gets tons of wonderful comments – and for that I thank all of you who stop by and leave me a comment from time to time. Jeane is one of those loyal readers and commenters – Thanks, Jeane!!

I Love Your Blog Award

i_love_your_blogMany thanks to Lisa at Books on the Brain for granting me this special award. There are so many blogs I love out there – my Google Reader is testimony to that with over 300 blogs recognized there! And yes, Lisa’s blog is one I always read and love. Have you been there? If not, please drop by and visit her – I promise you won’t be disappointed!

The Lemonade Award

lemonadestandawardThis award recognizes fellow bloggers who exhibit attitude or gratitude.

Thanks to Jeska at The Curious Reader who bestowed this award on me. If you have not checked out Jeska’s  blog yet, you should. She reviews a wide variety of books and her personality comes through in each of them!

I am always tremendously flattered and grateful when my fellow bloggers give me a nod with one of these awards – to me they represent the strength of our community…connectedness to others and wanting to share our love of books and the bloggers who write about them.