Elaine Kalman Naves


Elaine Kalman Naves is a Hungarian-born Canadian writer, journalist, editor and lecturer from Quebec.
She has twice won the Quebec Writers' Federation Awards Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, in 1999 for Putting Down Roots and in 2003 for Shoshanna's Story. Her 2015 novel The Book of Faith was on the long list in 2016 for The Leacock Award.

Biography

Naves was born in Hungary in 1947, though her family moved to England in the wake of the Revolution of 1956. They eventually immigrated to Canada.
Naves attended McGill University, where she studied history, as well as Bishop's University, where she studied education. Following graduation from each, she taught English and History at the secondary level, then served as a historian for the Centre d’Étude du Québec of Sir George Williams University.

Awards and honours

Montreal Gazette named Shoshanna's Story one of the best books of 2003.
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
1997Journey to VajaMavis Gallant Prize for Non-FictionShortlist
1998Journey to VajaElie Wiesel Prize for Holocaust LiteratureWinner
1999Putting Down RootsMavis Gallant Prize for Non-FictionWinner
2003Shoshanna's StoryMavis Gallant Prize for Non-FictionWinner
2005Shoshanna's StoryYad Vashem PrizeWinner

Publications

Journey to Vaja: Reconstructing the World of a Hungarian-Jewish Family Putting Down Roots, Montreal's Immigrant Writers Storied Streets: Montreal in the Literary Imagination, with Bryan Demchinsky Shoshanna's Story: A Mother, Daughter, and the Shadows of History Robert Weaver: Godfather of Canadian Literature Portrait of a Scandal: The Trial of Robert Notman The Book of Faith
  • "Shoshanna. Mère et fille dans les ténèbres de l'histoire", traduit par Chantal Ringuet, Éditions Alias, Groupe Nota Bene, 2017.