29 Apr, 2006

April, 2006

Memoir of a Living Disease, Maurice’s 2005 nonfiction book about tuberculosis in Manitoba, won a Margaret McWilliams award in the category of organizational history from the Manitoba Historical Society. This award is one of the longest-running literary honours in Canada. Here’s Maurice receiving his award from John Harvard, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. .

In July 2005, Maurice was awarded an “A” grant from the Manitoba Arts Council to complete a poetry manuscript called Helping Your Self, a book about the inspiration industry.

A front page story in the Winnipeg Free Press described Memoir of a Living Disease as “a powerful account of the history of tuberculosis in Manitoba” (Bill Redekop, June 12, 2005).

In April Maurice’s personal essay about Carl Ridd, “Finding the Words (for Carl),” was the lead piece in Prairie Fire’s tribute to the legendary Winnipeg teacher, activist, and athlete, appearing in the Spring, 2005 issue. The essay has been nominated for a 2006 National Magazine Award.

Maurice’s latest book, “Memoir of a Living Disease: The Story of Earl Hershfield and Tuberculosis in Manitoba and Beyond,” was launched March 9th to a capacity audience at McNally Robinson Books, Grant Park in Winnipeg. It’s about tuberculosis in Manitoba in the modern era and the career of a prominent TB doctor, Earl Hershfield. The book was commissioned by the Manitoba Lung Association and you can find order information on their web site.

In 2003 the Manitoba Arts Council awarded Maurice a Writer’s “B” grant to complete a memoir of his childhood with the working title “Moving Back Home.” He completed a first draft of the manuscript in 2004. More of his adulthood went into the book than anticipated.

An excerpt from the memoir was published in Prairie Fire’s summer 2003 issue. The excerpt, titled “White Pork,” is about living in Jamaica in the 1970s.

In spring 2003 Maurice was shortlisted for two Manitoba writing awards: The Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book, and the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer. The Best First Book award went to Chandra Mayor’s August Witch, and Marvin Francis won the John Hirsch Award.

Ending with Music was also longlisted for the 2003 3rd annual ReLit Awards for Canadian poetry. The ReLits (short for Regarding Literature, Reinventing Literature, Relighting Literature…) promote books published by independent Canadian publishers.