The nominees are in for Brave New Words 2001: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards. The April 28 gala at CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre is open to the public and admission is free.

Former Winnipegger Carol Shields is on the shortlist for the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction for her short-story collection Dressing Up for the Carnival, with Heather Frayne (Last Night's Dream), Sarah Klassen (The Peony Season), and Wayne Tefs (Moon Lake).

Tefs is also among the nominees for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, along with Miriam Toews (Swing Low: A Life) Dennis Cooley (Irene), David Butterfield and Maureen Devanuk Butterfield (If Walls Could Talk: Manitoba's Best Buildings Explored and Explained) and James Kostelniuk (Wolves Among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community).

Toews and Kostelniuk are also up for a non-fiction award, as is Dave Williamson (Author! Author! Encounters With Famous Writers).

Acclaimed writers Margaret Buffie (The Watcher), Linda Holeman (Raspberry House Blues), Carol Matas (Rebecca) and Ishbel Moore (Annilea) are all in the running for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award (older category).

-- Winnipeg Sun