The Atlantic Book Awards Festival Gala will take place in Charlottetown in late May as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference, says Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Henderson.

“The Atlantic Book Awards Festival Gala will be a fine addition to what promises to be a once in a generation celebration on Prince Edward Island,” said Minister Henderson. “The Festival will showcase the tremendously talented writers, editors and publishers who call this part of the world home. This marks only the second time the Gala has been held outside of Nova Scotia.”

During the 2014 Atlantic Book Awards Gala, the winners of the 2014 PEI Book Awards will also be announced.

“The 2014 PEI Book Awards will highlight the incredible talent of Island authors and will help shine a light on their important contribution to our unique culture,” said Minister Henderson. “I encourage all authors and publishers to submit their works for consideration for the 2014 awards.”

Nominations are now open for the 2014 PEI Book Awards. The awards are presented every two years in three categories: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Both English and French authors can be nominated in any category. Only books published in 2012 or 2013 will be considered. Nominations will be accepted until January 31, 2014.

To submit a nomination, visit www.gov.pe.ca/tourism/bookaward. Only authors and publishers are permitted to submit nominations.

In 2012, Dianne Hicks Morrow was the winner in poetry for her collection of poems titled What Really Happened is This. The winner in fiction was Patti Larson for Run (The Haunted), while the non-fiction award was presented to Marian Bruce for Remembering Old Dan.