24 May 2002
Kent Thompson Wins
Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-fiction

The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia announced today that Kent Thompson was awarded the 2002 Evelyn Richardson Prize for non-fiction.Nova Scotia's highest award for a book of non-fiction written by a Nova Scotian, the Evelyn Richardson Memorial Literary Award is presented annually by the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. The Award is named for Nova Scotia writer Evelyn Richardson, whose book We Keep A Light won the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction in 1945. Previous winners include Joan Baxter, Robin Metcalfe and Silver Donald Cameron.

Getting Out of Town by Book and Bike is a collection of popular essays which often takes a comic look at how reading and bicycling transport you to places unknown. Thompson introduces the reader to travel writing by nineteenth-century bicycle adventurer Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg and Canadian rock star Neil Peart, explains why he visits small-town libraries in search of copies of Anna Karenina, and ponders the social significance of Tim Hortons coffee shops. Writing in the spirit of James E. Starr's, The Literary Cyclist, Thompson also contemplates the role of the bicycle in works by writers ranging from George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, to Elizabeth Bishop and Ernest Bucker. Another chapter takes a more sober look at the vulnerability of bicyclists, reflecting on the recent death of a cyclist in Nova Scotia and the reluctance of police to investigate the cause. Another chapter reflects on the Zen of bicycle maintenance. On the whole, it's an offbeat and entertaining book of curiosity.

Kent Thompson lives in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. He rides bikes everywhere he goes, sometimes for long distances, sometimes quickly, but never both at the same time, and always for the fun of it. He's the author of Biking to Blissville: A Cycling Guide to the Maritimes and the Magdalen Islands and several works of fiction, including Shacking Up, Married Love: A Vulgar Entertainment and Playing in the Dark. He is a frequent panelist on CBC Radios' "Talking Books." Kent Thompson is well known nationally as the former editor of The Fiddlehead. He has also taught in the English department at the University of New Brunswick.