Amanda Peters
Canadian writer
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Amanda Peters is a Mi'kmaq writer from Falmouth, Nova Scotia,[1] whose debut novel The Berry Pickers was the winner of the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction,[2] 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award,[3] 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence,[4] and 2024 Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction.[5]
Biography
Of mixed Mi'kmaq and European heritage, Peters was born and raised in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia as a member of the Glooscap First Nation.[6] She was nominated for an Indigenous Voices Award in the Unpublished English Prose category in 2019 for her short story "Pejipug (Winter Arrives)", and won in the same category in 2021 for "Waiting for the Long Night Moon".
Writing
The Berry Pickers centres on a young Mi'kmaw girl who goes missing in Maine, depicting the event's lifelong effects on both her birth family and the girl herself, who grows up as the child of a white family with no knowledge of her origins.[7] The novel was published in early 2023 by Harper Perennial.[6] In addition to its Carnegie Award win, the book was shortlisted for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize,[8] the 2024 Amazon.ca First Novel Award,[9] the 2024 Thomas Head Raddall Award, and the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction.[10]
Her debut short story collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon, was published on August 13, 2024.[11]
Awards
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Berry Pickers | Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize | — | Shortlisted | [8] |
| Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award | — | Won | [3] | ||
| 2024 | Amazon.ca First Novel Award | — | Shortlisted | [9] | |
| Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence | Fiction | Won | [2] | ||
| Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence | First Novel | Won | [12] | ||
| Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction | — | Won | [5] | ||
| Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction | — | Shortlisted | [10] | ||
| Thomas Head Raddall Award | — | Shortlisted | [10] |
Publications
Novels
- —— (2023). The Berry Pickers. Catapult Books. ISBN 9781646221950.
Short story collections
- —— (2024). Waiting for the Long Night Moon. Catapult Books. ISBN 9781646222599.
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