Amanda Peters

'''Amanda Peters''' is a Mi'kmaq writer from Falmouth, Nova Scotia,<ref>Maryam Gowralli, [https://www.fillingstation.ca/post/an-interview-with-amanda-peters "An Interview with Amanda Peters"]. ''Filling Station'', September 12, 2022.</ref> whose debut novel ''The Berry Pickers'' was the winner of the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction,<ref name="airdriecityview.com">Hillel Italie, [https://www.airdriecityview.com/lifestyle/roxanna-asgarians-we-were-once-a-family-and-amanda-peters-the-berry-pickers-win-library-medals-8139073 "Roxanna Asgarian's 'We Were Once a Family' and Amanda Peters' 'The Berry Pickers' win library medals"]. ''Airdrie City View'', January 20, 2024.</ref> 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award,<ref name="Awards and Recognitions">Amanda Peters Author, [https://amandapetersauthor.com/awards-and-recognitions "Awards and Recognitions"], May 31, 2024</ref> 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence,<ref name=":0">Crime Writers of Canada, [https://crimewriterscanada.com/index.php/en/page/updates/permalink/crime-writers-of-canada-announces-the-2024-awards-of-excellence-winners "Crime Writers of Canada Announces the 2024 Awards of Excellence Winners"], May 29, 2024</ref> and 2024 Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction.<ref name="quillandquire.com">Cassandra Drudi, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/amanda-peters-karen-pinchin-among-2024-nova-scotia-book-awards-winners/ "Amanda Peters, Karen Pinchin among 2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards winners"]. ''Quill & Quire'', June 5, 2024.</ref>

== Biography == Of mixed Mi'kmaq and European heritage, Peters was born and raised in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia as a member of the Glooscap First Nation.<ref name=molloy>Jason Molloy, [https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/communities/falmouth-ns-resident-amanda-peters-ready-to-release-debut-novel-the-berry-pickers-100840739/ "Falmouth, N.S., resident Amanda Peters ready to release debut novel, The Berry Pickers"]. ''SaltWire Network'', April 4, 2023.</ref> She was nominated for an Indigenous Voices Award in the Unpublished English Prose category in 2019 for her short story "Pejipug (Winter Arrives)", and won in the same category in 2021 for ''Waiting for the Long Night Moon''.

== Writing == ''The Berry Pickers'' centres on a young Mi'kmaw girl who goes missing in Maine, depicting the event's lifelong effects on both her birth family and the girl herself, who grows up as the child of a white family with no knowledge of her origins.<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amanda-peters/the-berry-pickers/ "The Berry Pickers"]. ''Kirkus Reviews'', August 26, 2023.</ref> The novel was published in early 2023 by Harper Perennial.<ref name=molloy/> In addition to its Carnegie Award win, the book was shortlisted for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize,<ref name="Cassandra Drudi 2023">Cassandra Drudi, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/three-debut-novels-among-finalists-for-2023-atwood-gibson-writers-trust-fiction-prize/ "Three debut novels among finalists for 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize"]. ''Quill & Quire'', September 27, 2023.</ref> the 2024 Amazon.ca First Novel Award,<ref name="Cassandra Drudi 2024">Cassandra Drudi, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/2024-amazon-first-novel-award-shortlist-revealed/ "2024 Amazon First Novel Award shortlist revealed"]. ''Quill & Quire'', May 9, 2024.</ref> the 2024 Thomas Head Raddall Award, and the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction.<ref name="ReferenceA">Cassandra Drudi, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/finalists-for-nova-scotia-book-awards-and-atlantic-book-awards-announced/ "Finalists for Nova Scotia Book Awards and Atlantic Book Awards announced"]. ''Quill & Quire'', April 15, 2024.</ref>

Her debut short story collection, ''Waiting for the Long Night Moon'', was published on August 13, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title='The Berry Pickers' Examines Hope's Joy and Pain After a Little Girl’s Disappearance |url=https://zoomer.com/zed-book-club/bookshelf/2023/03/31/the-berry-pickers-examines-the-joy-and-pain-of-hope-after-a-little-girls-disappearance/ |access-date=May 11, 2026 |website=Zoomer |language=en}}</ref>

== Awards == {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |- ! Year !! Work !! Award !! Category !! Result !! Ref |- ! rowspan="2" | 2023 | rowspan="8" | ''The Berry Pickers'' | Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize || — || {{sho}} || <ref name="Cassandra Drudi 2023"/> |- | Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award || — || {{won}} || <ref name="Awards and Recognitions"/> |- ! rowspan="6" | 2024 | Amazon.ca First Novel Award || — || {{sho}} || <ref name="Cassandra Drudi 2024"/> |- | Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence || Fiction|| {{won}} || <ref name="airdriecityview.com"/> |- | Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence || First Novel || {{won}} || <ref name=":0" /> |- | Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction || — || {{won}} || <ref name="quillandquire.com"/> |- | Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction || — || {{sho}} || <ref name="ReferenceA"/> |- | Thomas Head Raddall Award || — || {{sho}} || <ref name="ReferenceA"/> |}

== Publications == === Novels ===

* {{cite book |last=Peters |first=Amanda |title=The Berry Pickers |publisher=Catapult Books |year=2023 |isbn=9781646221950 |author-mask=2}}

=== Short story collections ===

* {{cite book |last=Peters |first=Amanda |title=Waiting for the Long Night Moon |publisher=Catapult Books |year=2024 |isbn=9781646222599 |author-mask=2}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website}} * {{OL author}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Amanda}} Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian short story writers Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists Category:21st-century First Nations writers Category:Canadian women short story writers Category:First Nations novelists Category:First Nations women writers Category:Canadian Mi'kmaq people Category:People from Hants County, Nova Scotia Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Mi'kmaq writers Category:Novelists from Nova Scotia