Joan Thomas’s Debut Novel is Chosen For On The Same Page

Winnipegger Joan Thomas has had her award-winning first novel, Reading by Lightning from Goose Lane Editions, chosen by voters as the On The Same Page book for 2009-2010.

On The Same Page is a literacy initiative of The Winnipeg Foundation and encourages everyone in the province to read the same Manitoba book at the same time.

Joan’s book was chosen from amongst five options selected by a panel of local literary experts. Of the five books on the list four of them were from authors who have been guests at the THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival. The fifth was published 40 years before the festival started so we couldn’t feature that.

For more information on the options please check out http://onthesamepage.ca/

Joan was a guest of the festival in 2008 on our Bloodlines Mainstage at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People with Miriam Toews amongst others. Reading by Lightning went on to win a Commonwealth Best First Book prize. Her second book, tentatively titled Curiosity, is due out in 2010 from McClelland & Stewart.

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