Resume

IMG_3349

EDUCATION

Recipient of honorary Doctorate of Laws, Mount Allison University, May 15, 2022

D. Litt, University of New Brunswick, honorary, 2014

Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in English Literary Arts, 2010

BA Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY 1972

 

MAJOR PUBLISHED WORKS

The Sister’s Tale, Knopf Canada, 2021

A Measure of Light, Knopf Canada 2015, Random House USA 2015

The Sea Captain’s Wife, Knopf Canada 2010, Penguin/Plume (US) 2011, paperback Vintage Canada 2011

The Hatbox Letters, Knopf Canada 2004, St. Martin’s Press (US) 2005, paperback Vintage Canada 2005

Edge Seasons, Knopf Canada 2005, paperback Vintage Canada 2006

Shadow Child, Penguin Canada 1999, Carroll and Graf (US) 1999, paperback Vintage Canada 2006

Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life, Penguin Canada 1996 (as Seeds of Another Summer); Stewart, Tabori and Chang, NY, 1996; Sierra Club, San Francisco, 1999; Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton, NB, 2014

Hardy Apples, Firefly Books 2022, by Bob Osborne with photography by Beth Powning

Hardy Trees and Shrubs, Key Porter Books 1996, by Robert Osborne, photographs by Beth Powning

Roses for Canadian Gardens, Key Porter Books 1991, by Robert Osborne, photographs by Beth Powning

 

AWARDS   

Winner of the 2022 Mrs. Dunster’s Award for Fiction at the N.B. Book Awards for The Sister’s Tale.

Winner, N. B. Book Award 2016, A Measure of Light

Longlisted for Dublin IMPAC International Literary Award – The Hatbox Letters, The Sea Captain’s Wife, A Measure of Light

Globe and Mail “Best Book”-The Hatbox Letters, Edge Seasons, A Measure of Light

Shortlisted – Atlantic Booksellers Choice Award – The Hatbox Letters

Shortlisted – Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award – The Sea Captain’s Wife

Shortlisted – Edna Staebler Award for Literary Non-Fiction – Shadow Child

COSTCO’s Buyer’s Pick – The Sea Captain’s Wife

Barnes and Noble Discovery Award Book – The Sea Captain’s Wife

 

APPEARANCES

Lorenzo Society in partnership with UNB Alumni Book Club presents Beth Powning and The Sister’s Tale, moderated by Dean Heidi Macdonald. In-person, Hazen Lecture Hall; on-line, Microsoft Teams. May 11, 2022.

Keynote speaker, Provincial Library Conference “Reconnect 2021: NBPLS Goes to Camp Virtual Conference.” March 19, 2021

Vancouver International Writer’s Festival, Vancouver, B.C., October 2015  and October 2004

Blenheim Palace International Literary Festival, Woodstock, U.K., September, 2015 (upcoming)

Ottawa International Literary Festival, Ottawa, Ont., April, 2015 and April 2004

Lorenzo Society Reading Series, N.B, April 2015, March 2010, April 2004

West Cork Literary Festival, West Cork, Ireland, July 2013

Parry Sound Reading Series, ON., Sept. 2012

Port Medway Reading Series, N.S., July, 2012

Harbourfront International Reading Series, February 2010

Shelburne Literary Festival, N.S., August 2010

Festival by the Marsh, Sackville, N.B. July 2010 and 2008

The Frye Festival, Moncton, N.B. April 2015, 2010 and 2006

Word on the Street, Halifax, N.S. 2006

Read by the Sea, River John, N.S, 2004

WordFest, Calgary, AB. 2004

 

JURIES – NOTABLE

PEI Book Awards, 2022

Governor General’s Jury for Literary Fiction, 2013

 

OTHER

 
Numerous inclusions in anthologies such as When the Wild Comes Leaping Up, Northern Wild, Dropped Threads 3, The Sea’s Voice, In the Fullness of Time, Earth and Eros and others.

Numerous publications in magazines such as Chatelaine, Canadian Home and Country, Harrowsmith, Atlantic Books Today, etc.

Numerous writing workshops, appearances, speaking engagements, and residencies including The Great Blue Heron Literary Workshop (Antingonish, NB), The Maritimes Writer’s Workshop (Fredericton, NB), Writer’s Federation of New Brunswick (numerous), Charlottetown Writer’s Workshop, The Banff Centre for the Arts Leighton Artist’s Colony (1992, 2001, 2005, 2012), as well as many presentations to  service organizations, high schools, libraries and book clubs.