TORONTO—Ice Lake lawyer Paula Mallea is probably better known for her published works on government policy and the criminal justice system where she has practiced criminal law for several years—but her love of history has led Ms. Mallea down the path of historical writing before and now her book ‘From Homestead to Community—A Women’s History of Western Manitoulin’ (Scrivener Press, 2013) has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2014 Speaker’s Book Award.
The Honourable Dave Levac, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, announced the shortlist of books for the 2014 Speaker’s Book Award at Queen’s Park on November 19.
“It’s really cool,” admitted Ms. Mallea when contacted at her Ice Lake home on Monday. “Especially when you look at the impressive list of people who are on the shortlist.”
Ms. Mallea has been a very busy writer over the last few years. “There have been three books in four years,” she admitted. But this book she describes as the most personally exciting. “People stop me and my mom on the street to tell us how much they like the book and how they recognize events and parts of the story.”
“The award itself usually goes to a book based on some aspect of legislative policy,” said Scrivener Press’s publisher Lawrence Steven, who said he was really pleased that the book was shortlisted. “We are in really good company.”
The book, which deals with the story of the women who homesteaded Western Manitoulin and how they built their community through churches, the Women’s Institute and a host of other community groups is not a long stretch. “I think it fits in with the Ontario story,” said Ms. Mallea. There are not a lot of such stories that are about the North, are based in the North and by a Northern author.
The book is currently half way through its second printing, but the author and publisher credit each other with much of its marketing success.
“Paula has really done a lot of the marketing on this,” he said, noting that as a small Northern Ontario publisher, he depends a lot on the authors to help sell the book. “They have to be willing to push the book,” said Mr. Steven, “and Paula is doing that too.”
Ms. Mallea said that she has enjoyed working with Scrivener Press more than just about any other publisher. “My other publishers are good,” she said. She described the process “like working with family.” The author had high praise for the production values and design of the book. “It is a pretty book,” she said.
The complete shortlist consists of Boulou Ebanda de B’béri, Nina Reid-Maroney, and Handel Kashope Wright (Editors), ‘The Promised Land – History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent’s Settlements and Beyond (U of T Press, 2014)’; Charles Conteh and Bob Segsworth (Editors), Governance in Northern Ontario – Economic Development and Policy Making (U of T Press, 2013); Richard Feltoe, The Ashes of War – The Fight for Upper Canada, August 1814-March 1815 (Dundurn, 2014); Janice Gamble and Elder Tea, Connected to the Land – Stories from the Serpent’s Band (Serpent River First Nation c/o Marella Schofield, 2013); Robert J. Harper, ‘The Brockville Connection – Canada’s Fla’ (Robert J. Harper, 2014); Edward J. Hedican, ‘Ipperwash – The Tragic Failure of Canada’s Aboriginal Policy’ (U of T Press, 2013); Paula Mallea, ‘From Homestead to Community – A Women’s History of Western Manitoulin’ (Scrivener Press, 2013); Aaron Moore, ‘Planning Politics in Toronto – The Ontario Municipal Board and Urban Development’ (U of T Press, 2013); Steve Paikin, ‘Paikin and the Premiers – Personal Reflections on a Half Century of Ontario Leaders’ (Dundurn, 2013); Elmer Smith, ‘Un Franco-Ontarien parmi tant d’autres [A Franco-Ontarian Among Many Others]’ (Les editions L’Interligne, 2014); and Peter Unwin, ‘Canadian Folk – Portraits of Remarkable Lives’ (Dundurn, 2013).
Launched by Speaker Levac in 2012, the Speaker’s Book Award aims to bring awareness to books written by Ontarians covering historical, regional, cultural, or parliamentary aspects of the province, according to a press release from the Speaker’s office. Special consideration is given to works focusing on Ontario’s parliamentary heritage and on provincial political discourse. Descriptions of this year’s finalists are available at the Speaker’s Book Award website. The winning entry will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Ontario Legislative Building on March 9, 2015.
