‘Lagomorph’ story by Dr. Alexander MacLeod wins Nova Scotia’s top arts prize

A special handbound letterpress edition of Lagomorph is the 2021 winner of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award, the largest award for a single work of art in any medium in the province. 

First published in Granta magazine, Dr. Alexander MacLeod’s short fiction about the impact of a family’s pet rabbit has earned international accolades, winning the prestigious O. Henry Prize in 2019. Last year, Dr. MacLeod collaborated with bookmaker Andrew Steeves of Gaspereau Press to immortalize the story as an exquisite stand-alone book.

The Masterworks recognition is particularly special for MacLeod and Steeves. “The story had already done pretty well out in the world, but this award kind of brought it home and shows how the piece is connected to this place, connected to us,” says MacLeod, a professor who teaches Creative Writing and Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary’s.

It was his first such project with Steeves. The idea was born during a long walk in Mount Uniacke, where the friends sometimes catch up halfway between their homes in Dartmouth and Kentville.

“I’ve always believed in Andrew as one of Nova Scotia’s greatest artists and I have huge respect for him and all the work he has done. Gaspereau Press has published some of the most important Atlantic Canadian writing of the last 20 years,” says MacLeod.

The $25,0000 award was presented Dec. 1 at Government House, at a reception hosted by the Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, ONS, QC and Her Honour Mrs. Patsy LeBlanc. The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia and its Executive Director Marilyn Smulders nominated the book, which was up against innovative theatre project “The Princess Show” and sculptural works by Neil Forrest and John Greer.

“We were totally surprised. All of those works were just amazing,” says MacLeod, adding he’s glad Nova Scotia has an award that celebrates all forms of creative expression.

An independent jury of artists chose Lagomorph for its “masterful artisanship, inside and out” and said “the work stays with you long after you put it down.” Also “enchanted by the contrasting yet complementary nature of the work,” the jury was intrigued to see contemporary fiction “captured on the page using traditional, largely bygone methods of typesetting, printing, and bookbinding.”

Books are much more than just the words inside, says MacLeod, and the letterpress setting for the story taps into the ancient roots of human communications. “This book itself is kind of a sculpture. We both wanted the art of the bookmaker to be seen, and Andrew just made such a beautiful book.” 

MacLeod’s next collection of short stories, Animal Person, launches on April 5 through Penguin Random House Canada. It will also be published in the U.S. and the U.K., and is currently set to be translated into 12 languages. His first book, Light Lifting, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Book Prize, and the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.  

Learn more about the Masterworks Award at www.nsmasterworks.ca.