The 2009 Atlantic Book Awards celebration will take place at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at the Alderney Landing Theatre in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Author and CBC Radio host, Stephanie Domet (winner of the 2008 Margaret and John Savage First Book Award), and actor/humorist, Bill Carr will co-host the cabaret-style celebration as nine awards are handed out for the best Atlantic Canadian books of 2008. New this year will be live entertainment by local performers/musicians who are also authors, editors, journalists, and book publishers.

The Atlantic Book Awards celebration anchors a week of book-related events. The Atlantic Book Festival takes place April 14-19 across all four Atlantic Provinces with author signings, readings, panel discussions, and book launches – a literary jackpot for book lovers of all kinds. Festival details will be announced in March.

The short lists for seven of the Atlantic Book Awards will be announced on Tuesday, March 3. There is no short list for the two Mayor’s awards that will also be presented on April 15. Nominations for the Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Book Illustration and for Literary Achievement are being accepted until February 27, 2009. Visit http://www.halifax.ca/council/mayor/mayors_awards.html for details on eligibility and submissions.

The awards and festival are produced by the Atlantic Book Awards Society (ABAS), a registered, non-profit organization with representation in all four Atlantic Provinces. The ABAS is very pleased to be partnering with Feed the Mind, a Halifax-based, non-profit organization that provides free books for children who may not otherwise have their own.

Thanks to the support of sponsors Department of Canadian Heritage, Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association, Precision Atlantic, the Halifax Regional Municipality, Chapters / Indigo, the Telegraph-Journal, the Chronicle-Herald, Atlantic Books Today, and CBC Radio, admission to all Atlantic Book Awards events is free. Guests attending the April 15 awards celebration will be asked to bring donations of new or gently used children’s books for Feed the Mind.

Details on the Atlantic Book Awards can be found at their newly minted website: http://www.atlanticbookawards.ca.