Through Black Spruce

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Through Black Spruce
First edition
Author	Joseph Boyden
Genre	Canadian literature, First Nations
Publisher	Viking Canada
Publication date	September 9, 2008
Publication place	Canada
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	360 p. (Viking Canada (Penguin Group) hardcover edition)
ISBN	978-0-670-06363-5 (Penguin Group Canada)
OCLC	225774686
Preceded by	Three Day Road
Followed by	The Orenda

Through Black Spruce is a novel by Canadian writer Joseph Boyden, published in 2008 by Viking Press. It is Boyden's second novel and third published book.

Through Black Spruce was named the winner of the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize on November 11, 2008.^[1]

Plot summary

Through Black Spruce is set in Moosonee, Ontario and is narrated by Will Bird and his niece Annie Bird with the narration switching between chapters.

Will, a former bush pilot, is in a coma. Over the course of the novel Will recounts the events of the previous year which led to him being in a coma to his nieces, Annie and Suzanne. Meanwhile, in the present day, Annie recounts the previous year of her life and her sojourns to Toronto, Montreal, New York City and Moose Factory Ontario to see Will in an attempt to help to revive him from his coma.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation by Don McKellar was released in 2018,^[2] receiving two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, for Best Actor (Brandon Oakes) and Best Original Score (Alaska B),^[3] winning the latter.^[4]

References

^ "Boyden wins literature's Giller" Archived 2008-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, The Globe and Mail, November 11, 2008.
^ "Boyden adaptation Through Black Spruce selected by TIFF, reigniting debate over authorship". The Globe and Mail. July 24, 2018.
^ "Canadian Screen Awards 2019: English-Canadian films shut out of best picture category". Now. February 7, 2019.
^ "Les Québécois remportent plus de la moitié des trophées à l'avant-gala des prix Écrans canadiens" [Quebeckers bring home over half the trophies at the Canadian Screen Awards pre-gala]. Ici Radio-Canada. March 31, 2019.

v t e Recipients of the Giller Prize
1990s	M. G. Vassanji, The Book of Secrets (1994) Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance (1995) Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (1996) Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version (1997) Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman (1998) Bonnie Burnard, A Good House (1999)
2000s	Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost / David Adams Richards, Mercy among the Children (2000) Richard B. Wright, Clara Callan (2001) Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe (2002) M. G. Vassanji, The In-Between World of Vikram Lall (2003) Alice Munro, Runaway (2004) David Bergen, The Time in Between (2005) Vincent Lam, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (2006) Elizabeth Hay, Late Nights on Air (2007) Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce (2008) Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man (2009)
2010s	Johanna Skibsrud, The Sentimentalists (2010) Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues (2011) Will Ferguson, 419 (2012) Lynn Coady, Hellgoing (2013) Sean Michaels, Us Conductors (2014) André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs (2015) Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing (2016) Michael Redhill, Bellevue Square (2017) Esi Edugyan, Washington Black (2018) Ian Williams, Reproduction (2019)
2020s	Souvankham Thammavongsa, How to Pronounce Knife (2020) Omar El Akkad, What Strange Paradise (2021) Suzette Mayr, The Sleeping Car Porter (2022) Sarah Bernstein, Study for Obedience (2023) Anne Michaels, Held (2024)

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