Ches Crosbie Barristers Newfoundland Book Award for Fiction 2012

Phew! That's a long title. The Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for fiction has been renamed in honour of a new sponsor. This award recognizes the best writing to come out of the province over a two year period.

This year's winner is Moonlight Sketches (M) by Gerard Collins.

"Welcome to Darwin, Newfoundland, a small town with big secrets. On the surface, nothing ever changes and everyone is content. But the truth is as restless, cold, and mutable as the ocean in these sixteen linked short stories. In Darwin, people’s secrets are hidden and their fears are buried. But night after night, the moon bears quiet witness to their brightest moments and darkest days. A Catholic girl finds herself pregnant and feels hopelessly trapped. An elderly couple fears the end of their happy, quiet life when their money sock goes missing. Two lesbians walk into the wrong bar on a Saturday night. A young teacher must rescue a student from her wicked father. A wild youth seeks to rectify his life, but first takes his bookish friend on one last heist.

In Moonlight Sketches, Gerard Collins portrays a land of shadows, beyond the overpass, where cruelty and hope gnaw at your peace of mind as the brine patiently devours a wharf. With his trademark dark humour and a nod to the unknown, the author shines a light on the difficulty of being human and yet somehow surviving with grace, dignity, and a modicum of happiness." publisher