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Author of The Adversary
We are thrilled to welcome back to Burlington celebrated poet, playwright, and critically-acclaimed novelist Michael Crummey.
The bestselling author of The Innocents, Sweetland, and Galore (BPL's 2014 One Book, One Burlington featured novel) presents his powerful new novel, The Adversary, in lively conversation with critic, educator, and editor-in-chief of Hamilton Review of Books, Dana Hansen.
The Adversary is an enthralling novel about love and its limitations, the corruption of power and the power of corruption. Taking place in an isolated outport on Newfoundland's northern coastline, it is the story of a ruthless act of sabotage by rival merchants that spirals into vendettas and violence, ultimately forcing the community to take sides with devastating consequences. Through it all, it is the human heart that reveals itself to be the most formidable and unpredictable adversary for each person helplessly drawn into the endless feud.
Since winning his first poetry award in 1986 while attending Memorial University, Crummey has garnered an impressive list of awards and nominations for his poetry and prose while becoming a bestselling author along the way. Michael Crummey wrote the memoir Newfoundland: Journey into a Lost Nation; seven books of poetry, including Arguments with Gravity, winner of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Poetry; and the short fiction collection Flesh and Blood. His first novel, River Thieves, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and his second novel, The Wreckage, was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His third novel, Galore, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Canada and the Caribbean) and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. His fourth novel, Sweetland, was also a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. His novel, The Innocents, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award. Michael Crummey lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Dana Hansen is a writer, reader, editor, and reviewer living in Waterdown, Ontario. She is a contributing writer at The Chicago Review of Books, and her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Literary Review of Canada, Quill & Quire, The Toronto Review of Books, The Winnipeg Review, France’s Books magazine, Australia’s Westerly magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches in the English department at Humber College in Toronto and is the editor-in-chief of the online literary journal, Hamilton Review of Books.
A Different Drummer Books will be onsite selling the book for signing after the talk.
Presented in partnership with A Different Drummer Books and Knopf Canada
Explore Michael Crummey in our collection
If you need an accessibility accommodation during this program, please register early so we can confirm arrangements a few days before your visit.
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