Dal alum and celebrated author K.R. Byggdin (BA’22) (they/them) took home the $30K Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award at this year’s Atlantic Book Awards. Byggdin’s debut book Wonder World was released by Enfield & Wizenty in 2022 and was edited for publication while they were completing their honours program in English and Creative Writing at Dalhousie.

The novel tells the story of a young queer Mennonite named Isaac Funk and his search for belonging in his conservative hometown of Newfield, Manitoba. Wonder World is available at local bookstores across Canada and the US including Bookmark, Venus Envy, and King’s Co-op Bookstore in Halifax.