The Nelson and District Arts Council and Elephant Mountain Literary Festival are thrilled to announce this year’s recipient of the Richard Carver Award for emerging writers. Writer Ari Lord has been chosen by an arms-length jury to receive the award this year.
Ari’s letters of nomination highlighted the quality of their work, community involvement and support of the literary community.
From their nomination letter: “Ari aims to bring rural queer stories to the literary mainstream, an area that is lacking in Canadian queer literature which I think is crucial. They often use humour in their work to approach difficult topics like trauma, shame and loss in a lighter, more relatable way.”
An arms-length jury reviewed Ari’s work and one jurors stated “Ari Lord has a unique style. I read both Death Doula and the Snake. Death Doula and the Snake was especially compelling. We all need to hear about transition and depression, an especially important time to be hearing about trans and gay issues.”
The awards was be handed out at an event during the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival in September by former recipient Rayya Liebich.
“I’m thrilled to be this year’s recipient of the Richard Carver Award. Part of what I’m trying to do in my writing is bring to light queer and gender-diverse rural narratives. Having these efforts recognized by this award means a great deal. It has been incredible to grow in my craft over the last seven years surrounded by such a vibrant community of writers.” said Ari.
The history of the Richard Carver Award
After Richard passed away in 2009, the Arts Council founded this award, which has been awarded eight times.
Children’s author Darcee O’Hearne was the recipient in 2013, followed by poet Jane Byers in 2014. In 2015 the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival became a partner in the award, which that year was split between two deserving authors, Susan Dancer and Avi Silberstein. The recipients in 2016 were Donna Macdonald and Alanda Greene. In 2017 the recipient was Diana Morita Cole. In 2018 the Carver Award “honoured longtime literary advocates Morty Mint and Ernest Hekkanen, and 2019 the award returned to recognize an emerging writer, poet Rayya Liebich. In 2020 author Danielle LaRocque was honoured. In 2021 Sarah Beauchamp was the recipient of the award with an honorary mention going to Vera Maloff. The recipient in 2022 was poet Zaynab Mohammed. Ellen Burt was the 2023 recipient.
Richard Carver was invested in the community as a lover of the arts and the Kootenays. He was a mover and shaker on the board of the Nelson and District Arts Council, and the primary sponsor of this award named in his honour.
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