Page 39 - Trillium Book Awards 2021, ONTARIO CREATES

Trillium Book Award
Finalist
Craig Davidson
Cascade
Knopf Canada
Reminiscent of Stephen King’s brilliantly cinematic short stories that went on to inspire films such as
The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, here’s a collection crackling with Craig Davidson’s superb craft and kinetic energy: in the visceral, crystalline, steel-tipped prose; in the psychological perspicacity; and in the endearing humour.
Set in in the Niagara Falls of Davidson’s imagination known as “Cataract City,” the superb stories of Cascade shine a shimmering light on this slightly seedy, slightly magical, slightly haunted place. The six gems in this collection each illuminate familial relationships in a singular way: A mother and her infant son fight to survive a car-crash in a remote wintry landscape outside of town. Fraternal twins at a juvenile detention center reach a dangerous crisis point in their entwined lives. A pregnant social worker grapples with the prospect of parenthood as a custody case takes a dire turn. A hard-boiled ex-firefighter goes after a serial arsonist with a flair for the theatrical even as his own troubled sister is drawn towards the flames. These are just some of the unforgettable characters animating this stellar collection of tales— Davidson’s first in 15 years, since Rust and Bone, which inspired a Golden Globe-nominated film.
Craig Davidson was born and grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario, near Niagara Falls. He has published four previous books of literary fiction, including Rust and Bone, which was the inspiration for a Golden Globe– nominated feature film of the same name; the Scotiabank Giller Prize–nominated novel Cataract City; and the novel The Saturday Night Ghost Club, which was a finalist for the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize.
His bestselling memoir, Precious Cargo, about his year spent driving a school bus for children with special needs, was a finalist for Canada Reads. Davidson lives in Toronto, with his partner and two children.
Jury Comment: The stories in Craig Davidson’s second collection display manifest literary strengths: precise, active language, characters who breathe and emote and positively seethe with life, and plots that are wound tight as a spring. Cascade also exemplifies an author in complete control of his materials, whether they be in the service of a story about arsonists and family bonds, a former
pro-basketball player and ex-con tutoring a young protégé, or a mother stranded in the harsh winter weather desperate to save herself and her baby. Each of these stories is a tightly calibrated machine that works on its reader with brilliant, sometimes brutal efficiency.
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Photo Credit: Kevin Kelly