Kelowna Author Nominated For Major Prize

Kelowna author Ashley Little overlooking a beautiful Okanagan landscape. (Photo Credit: UBC Okanagan)

Kelowna author Ashley Little has yet another success in her writing career with her novel Anatomy of a Girl Gang shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award.

Little's novel deals with five girls who have been cast outside of society into the Downtown Eastside and terrorize the city. Not only that, but Little may be the first writer to actually give a voice to the city of Vancouver, who serves as one of the book's narrators. Little describes the voice as “an omniscient, benevolent presence that sees everything happening and kind of laments some of the choices these gangster girls are making. But the city is powerless to stop anything or to help them in any way.”

The book shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award. (Photo Credit: Arsenal Pulp Press)

The City of Vancouver Book Award has a $3000 prize and is intended to recognize those writers “who contribute to the appreciation and understanding of Vancouver's history, unique character, or the achievements of its residents”. Little's book clearly fulfils those goals, not only with Vancouver as a narrator, but also with the exploration of the often overlooked Downtown Eastside.

This isn't Little's first success. Earlier this year, Little had an unprecedented dual win at the BC Book Prizes. Two of her books won in different categories, with the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for Anatomy of a Girl Gang and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for The New Normal.

Little has been living in Kelowna for a year and taking her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at UBC's Okanagan campus. “So far it's been a really supportive community,” Little said. “I've been really pleased with the enthusiasm of the Okanagan, and I'm looking forward to building and developing the literary arts here even more.”

Little is giving a reading at the Okanagan Regional Library on Ellis at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24. The reading is part of the university's Visiting Author series, and it will also feature Garry Gottfriedson. For all those wanting to check out some local talent, the event is free and open to the public.