Margaret and John Savage First Book Award
The Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, presented for the first time in 2003 with a value of $1,500, recognizes the best first book of fiction or non-fiction published in the previous year by an Atlantic writer.
Margaret and John Savage were instrumental in establishing the Dartmouth Book and Writing Awards in 1989. As the mayor of Dartmouth, John Savage arranged the funding of the initial fiction and non-fiction awards. Margaret not only assisted in the arrangements of the awards, but also served the patrons of the Alderney Gate Public Library community as a volunteer. Dartmouth and the larger municipal and provincial communities have benefited enormously from the support for writers, books, reading, and general cultural pursuits that have been synonymous with the lives of Margaret and John. Naming the "First Book Award" in their honour is a small but significant tribute to their contributions.
The award has been presented to Jonathan Campbell for Tarcadia, Dan Falk for Universe on a T-Shirt, to Beth Ryan for What is Invisible, John G. Langley for Steam Lion: A Biography of Samuel Cunard, Tom Gallant for Hard Chance: Sailing into the Heart of Love and Stephanie Domet for Homing: the whole story (from the inside out).
In 2004, the John and Margaret Savage Humanities Endowment was created to fund projects supported by Margaret and John. The endowment funds the Music and Medicine Program at the Dalhousie Medical School, the John Savage Medical Clinic in Niger, and the First Book Award.
Watch for this seal--a sign of excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and publishing.
