Times shines a spotlight on Thomas novel

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This article was published 07/02/2026 (212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 2010 work of historical fiction by Winnipeg novelist Joan Thomas has received some extra attention thanks to an article in the New York Times.

The piece, written by novelist Janie Chang, appeared on Jan. 23 under the headline Immersive Historical Fiction Full of Rule Breakers and Rebels, and featured eight books “about people who push back against the expectations of their time.”

Thomas’ 2010 novel Curiosity, published by McClelland & Stewart, is based on the real-life story of Mary Anning, who discovered fossils in the U.K. in the early 1800s and sold them to scientists, who turned around and claimed the find as their own.

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Chang called the book “a touching — and sometimes enraging — excavation of how class and gender prevented Mary from receiving formal acknowledgment of her scientific contributions.” Chang’s own work of historical fiction, The Fourth Princess: A Gothic Novel of Old Shanghai, is being published Tuesday by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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For the full list of Chang’s other picks, see wfp.to/icL.

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While it’s authors who typically get the spotlight when it comes to literary awards, a new prize from the Writers’ Trust of Canada will fête the folks who work behind the scenes on books — the editors.

The Nancy Flight Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Editing will award $25,000 for excellence in non-fiction editing. Flight, a former non-fiction book editor herself, has agreed to fund the prize through to 2033 in the hopes of highlighting the work editors play in bringing a book to publication.

A three-person jury for the prize will be made up writers and editors, and will be awarded with the bulk of the other Writers’ Trust prizes at the organization’s annual awards in November.

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Jurors have been chosen for the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which awards US$150,000 (around $204,000) to a work of fiction by a woman or non-binary writer from Canada or the United States.

The jury will be chaired by U.S. author Carmen Maria Machado, with a pair of Canadian writers — Cherie Dimaline and Ivan Coyote — joining Machado, Deesha Philyaw and Chitra Divakaruni.

The long list for the prize will be revealed on March 10, the short list on April 21 and the winner announced on June 2. In 2025 the top prize went to Saint Lucia-born, Ontario-based writer Canisia Lubrin for the book Code Noir, which also won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award.

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Those in the south end of the city can pop by the Indigo Chapters at St. Vital Centre (1225 St. Mary’s Rd.) this afternoon to chat with a pair of local literary collaborators.

Winnipeg author (and Free Press copy editor) Ariel Gordon and author/illustrator GMB Chomichuk will be hanging out at the bookstore today from 1-4 p.m. to sign copies of their hybrid graphic novel Blood Letters, published in October 2025 by Great Plains Press.

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One of Winnipeg’s newest bookstores is turning two, and is hosting a party today in honour of the event.

Horror bookstore Raven’s End Books (1859 Portage Ave.) will be celebrating from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will be offering a free mystery book for purchases over $20, the chance to spin a prize wheel, some treats and more.

winnipegfreepress.com/bensigurdson