Established in 1988, the Dartmouth Book Awards honour Nova Scotia literature and recognize the valuable contribution writers make to our cultural heritage.
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Shortlists for 2025 Dartmouth Book Awards
Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
Tammy Armstrong, Pearly Everlasting (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Charlene Carr, We Rip the World Apart (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Susan LeBlanc, The Nowhere Places (Nimbus Publishing & Vagrant Press)
George Borden Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction)
OmiSoore H. Dryden, Got Blood to Give: Anti-Black Homophobia in Blood Donation (Fernwood Publishing)
Darce Fardy*, Living With Dementia (Nimbus Publishing)
Brenda J. Thompson, Enslavers of the Maritimes (Moose House Publications)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
Jessica Ilse, The Majestic Sisters (Nimbus Publishing & Vagrant Press)
Shawn Lawlor, Boom Road (Galleon Books)
Susan LeBlanc, The Nowhere Places (Nimbus Publishing & Vagrant Press)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Nonfiction)
Martin Bauman, Hell of a Ride (Pottersfield Press)
Bee Stanton, Atlantic Ghosts (Nimbus Publishing)
Dr. Ron Stewart* with Jim Meek, Treat Them Where They Lie (Nimbus Publishing)
* Nominated posthumously.
These and other Nova Scotia Book Awards will be presented on Monday, June 2, at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth in a ceremony hosted by musician and author Raymond Sewell.
Call for Submissions
Books are now being accepted for the Nova Scotia Book Awards. Publishers have until November 1, 2024, to submit books for the 2025 awards. Books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by Nova Scotian writers are eligible.
Because the Nova Scotia Book Awards brings together awards administered by two different nonprofit organizations, please take care to submit to the right organization.
- Novels published between Nov 2, 2023, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors may be eligible for the Dartmouth Fiction Award, a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Dartmouth Book Awards.
- Debut novels published between Nov 2, 2023, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors may be eligible for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction), a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Dartmouth Book Awards.
- Debut nonfiction books published between Nov 2, 2023, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors may be eligible for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Nonfiction), a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Dartmouth Book Awards.
- Nonfiction books published between Nov 2, 2023, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors that inspire others and challenge the status quo may be eligible for the George Borden Writing for Change Award, a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Dartmouth Books Awards.
- Nonfiction books published between Nov 2, 2023, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors may be eligible for the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award, a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.
- Books of poetry published between Nov 2, 2022, and Nov 1, 2024, by Nova Scotian authors may be eligible for the biennial Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award, a $2,000 prize. Please submit to the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.
Complete submission details are available for each award by the organization noted.
Save the date! The Nova Scotia Book Awards will take place at 7 pm on Monday, June 2, 2025, at Brightwood Golf and Country Club in Dartmouth.
2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards ceremony
The Nova Scotia Book Awards ceremony will be presented on Monday, June 3, at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth in a ceremony hosted by spoken-word artist and author Andre Fenton.
Shortlists for 2024 Dartmouth Book Awards
Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
Charlene Carr, Hold My Girl (HarperCollins)
Leo McKay Jr., What Comes Echoing Back (Vagrant Press)
Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers (HarperCollins)
George Borden Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction)
Ray Cronin, Alan Syliboy: Culture is our Medicine (Gaspereau Press)
Heather Fegan, Gutsy: Living My Best Life with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (Nimbus Publishing)
Jen Powley, Making a Home: Assisted Living in the Community for Young Disabled People (Roseway Publishing)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers (HarperCollins)
Shelley Thompson, Roar (Nimbus Publishing)
Michelle Wamboldt, Birth Road (Nimbus Publishing)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Nonfiction)
Brandon Doucet, About Canada: Dental Care (Fernwood Publishing)
Heather Fegan, Gutsy: Living My Best Life with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (Nimbus Publishing)
Karen Pinchin, Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of our Seas (Knopf Publishing)
See the Nova Scotia Book Awards website for other shortlists in the 2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards.