2026: Lesley Choyce

Lesley Choyce moved to Canada from the United States in 1978 and founded Pottersfield Press, a small literary press located at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. Initially, Pottersfield published an annual anthology of writers from Atlantic Canada and soon the press was publishing books by poets and fiction writers throughout the region. 2018 marked the fortieth anniversary of Pottersfield Press. By 2022, Choyce has published over 100 of his own works and, through Pottersfield Press, over 200 books by others.

During those forty years, Choyce introduced many first-time book authors to the reading public including Maxine Tynes, George Elliott Clarke, Bruce Graham, Jon Tattrie,  Joan Baxter, Frank Cameron, Steven Laffoley, Neil Peart, and Anthony Sherwood. As a publisher, editor and teacher, he has mentored many novice writers along the way. Choyce has also published well known authors such as Thomas Raddall, Claire Mowat, Harold Horwood, Daniel Petrie, Sheree Fitch, Budge Wilson, W.P. Kinsella, Ken McGoogan and Wayne Curtis. A number of Pottersfield books went on to win awards for their authors.

As an author, Choyce has had his work released by publishers large and small and has had at least one book published by a publisher in every Canadian province. He has written and published literary novels, poetry, collection of short stories, children’s books and young adult novels as well as history, memoir, humour and creative nonfiction. Most notably, he is known for his award-winning novel, The Republic of Nothing and his history of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Shaped by the Sea. His young adult novels have been translated into French, Spanish, Danish, German and Swedish.

2025: A.N.SAGE