WCA is thrilled to announce that Roy MacGregor has won the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, as this year’s print media honoree by the Hockey Hall of Fame. MacGregor was recognized for his graceful, eloquent storytelling over a career that has seen his writing appear in a long list of newspapers and magazines, including The Globe & Mail, the National Post, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star and Maclean’s magazine, and in many books, on topics from hockey to the mysterious death of artist Tom Thomson.

Acclaimed Canadian author Erna Paris is the 2012 recipient of the WFM – Canada World Peace Award.

The award, to be presented July 12 in Winnipeg, recognizes an outstanding Canadian whose work advances awareness and action in support of a more peaceful future for humanity.

Paris (www.ernaparis.com) is the author of seven books and the winner of ten national and international prizes.

The World Federalist Movement – Canada (www.worldfederalistscanada.org) is a longstanding Canadian NGO dedicated to reforming global institutions and strengthening the rule of law in world affairs.

The World Peace Award has been presented annually or every second year since 1972. There have been 31 previous recipients, including most recently, Lloyd Axworthy, Louise Arbour, Philippe Kirsch, Roméo Dallaire, Ernie Regehr, Gerry Barr and Flora MacDonald.

WCA is thrilled to announce that Ian Hamilton’s The Water Rat of Wanchai has won the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.

The Crime Writers of Canada’s citation of the novel follows:

Ian Hamilton’s The Water Rat of Wanchai is a smart, action-packed thriller of the first order, and Ava Lee, a gay Asian-Canadian forensics accountant with a razor-sharp mind and highly developed martial arts skills, is a protagonist to be reckoned with. We were impressed by Hamilton’s tight plotting; his well-rendered settings, from the glitz of Bangkok to the grit of Guyana; and his ability to portray a wide range of sharply individualized characters in clean but sophisticated prose.

For more information, please visit:

http://crimewriterscanada.com/awards/arthur-ellis-awards/current-contest/winners