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Squamish writer up for major award

Arno Kopecky nominated in Governor General’s Literary Awards
Squamish CHief File Photo Squamish author Arno Kopecky mans the helm, as photographer Ilja Herb enjoys the view and company. Kopecky was on a journey that he used to write his book The Oil Man and The Sea, which has been nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award.

It was approximately 7 a.m. when Squamish writer Arno Kopecky got the call. 

His writing buddy living in Toronto had big news, but it was difficult to take anything he said seriously so early in the morning.

“This one caught me way off guard,” Kopecky said. “This one was totally off my radar.”

Kopecky had been shortlisted for the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Awards. His publication The Oil Man and the Sea: Navigating the Northern Gateway was a finalist in the nonfiction category. 

“It’s the biggest award I’ve been nominated for,” Kopecky said. 

The book is a rough sequel to his first publication The Devil’s Curve, in which Kopecky explores clashes in South America between indigenous communities and Canadian oil and mining companies. In The Oil Man and the Sea, Kopecky boards a 41-foot cutter and travels through British Columbia’s central coast to areas in which tankers would travel through to meet the proposed Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline. 

Following the oil and gas industry’s push in Canada took on an interesting twist, Kopecky said. While Canada was often the aggressor in South America when it came to such commodities, Kopecky’s home country is finding itself under intense pressure from Chinese businesses, he noted. 

“The tables have turned a bit,” he said. 

Kopecky wrote both books within a three-year period. Eking a living out of writing isn’t easy, he noted. How people obtain information and consume literature is changing rapidly. But Kopecky said, for those who are willing and creative, there are still interesting opportunities in the field.

“I don’t think that we are approaching any kind of apocalypse for writing,” he said.

Last month, Kopecky took home the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction. It came with a $10,000 cash prize. If Kopecky takes the top place in the governor general’s awards he will receive a cheque for $25,000. 

Kopecky said he’s been fortunate to receive some “lucky breaks” in writing and have the support of his family. Writing is a very challenging profession, he said, noting the reward is in the complete project. 

“[The awards] make it a little bit easier,” he joked. 

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