Juror Comments - Saskatchewan Book Awards, 2000
Nominated for three Saskatchewan Book Awards: Book of the Year, First Book, and Award for Publishing.
“Jennifer Wynne Webber,
Defying Gravity.
An impressive debut which treats interesting motifs and themes. There is a
deft sense of character that is made visible in gesture and dialogue that
involve both irony and depth. The pacing is well done and the narrative style
is bold. This book has a real sense of the novelistic about it, wherein many
discrepant elements can work together.”
“Defying Gravity - This is a strong debut novel. The author
creates high-wire sexual tension between the two main characters that doesn't
let up. When she addresses the theme of genocide in Africa she successfully
draws out the parallel worlds of life in the West and life in Rwanda to remind
us of the forces that can destroy the human spirit. A handsomely designed
book that reflects great care and attention.”
“A novel about a young
woman on a journey to discover new and better ways of loving and being loved,
Defying Gravity is an intelligent construction of questions which,
though basically personal, include political and ecological concerns in the
very real larger world.”
Jurists:
Book of the Year: Kristjana Gunnars; Rudy Wiebe
First Book: Rob McLennan; Jane Rule
Award for Publishing: Michael Davis, formerly of Fitzhenry &
Whiteside and House of Anansi Press; Colleen MacMillan, formerly of Whitecap
Books