While it may be stretching it a bit to suggest that The Park’s Fish population might be in ascendance, it is safe to say that our aquatic kin made their presence felt at this year’s Chitter Radio Literary Awards.

For the first time since the awards were established eighteen years ago (as The Park Literary Awards), almost every category included at least one entry from our Piscine population.

The humour category overflowed with Fishy fun and foolishness, from the darkly humorous, “Roll Over and Stare” to the somewhat frothy “Flash Fish.” While neither netted first prize in the category (that honour went to “Trooping the Collar” by Clement Samuel Tervuren), their nomination served notice to both the judges and The Park’s readers that aquatic humour has evolved.

Indeed, in her book, “Brevity and the Wit of Sole,” which was nominated in both the humour and memoir categories, Evangeline Solea writes with poignancy about her early career in comedy and humour writing and her fight against the “Flatfish stereotypes.”

“Everywhere, the view was that Fish weren’t funny…particularly Flatfish. And, in the first few years of my career, I was baited constantly, but I refused to give up,” she writes in Chapter 3 of her book which she titled, “Swimming Against the Current.”

Solea’s book won in the memoir category and another Piscine author took home a prize, as well. For her critically-acclaimed work, “The View from Under the Plastic Palace,” Barbara Puntius Everetti was declared the Most Promising Newcomer.

Declan Wolfhound’s critically acclaimed “The Upward Curve” took the prize for best novel, while poet Gwendolyn Slang’s “Locomotion” won the poetry award and short story writer Tedesco Tuatara took home the prize for his twentieth collection, “The Long and Short of It.”

As expected, Tab Tricolore’s most recent volume, “The Feral Roots of our Festive Cuisine,” won in the non-fiction category. It was also no surprise that the award for the best political work went to Dante Reginald Kodiak’s controversial best seller, “If We Chain the World: How Fences Alter the Way We See Ourselves and Others.”

Veteran playwright Imogen Aardeekhoorn, author of the highly acclaimed “Mixed Nuts,” received the prize for her most recent work,”Truffles.” She was also honoured for her efforts on behalf of the Park Repertory Theatre.

As we prepare to enter the third week of June, The Mammalian Daily would like to remind you of several important events that will take place in The Park this month.

Chitter Radio Literary Awards

Formerly The Park Literary Awards, the Chitter Radio Literary Awards are considered the most prestigious literary awards in The Park. Presentation ceremonies: June 15

Feline Fiction Fest

Now in its 15th year, The Park’s Feline Fiction Fest is the world’s only literary festival dedicated to Feline writing. The three-day festival takes place June 16-18

Important Information for Estivators

Last day for pre-estivation bank deposits: June 28

Official Estivation date: June 29

Central Bank of The Park closed for mid-year tally: June 30

Renowned Park chef Tab Tricolore could take home two or more prizes from The Park’s literary festivals this June for his most recent book,”The Feral Roots of our Festive Cuisine.”

Renowned Park chef Tab Tricolore could take home two or more prizes from this year’s literary festivals for his book, “The Feral Roots of our Festive Cuisine.”

Part recipe book, part memoir, and part historical overview, Tricolore’s most recent effort has received glowing reviews from a number of Park publications, including The Panther Post and The Silvestris Star. Home cooks and other Park readers have weighed in on the book as well, with some calling it a “tour de force” and others suggesting that it should become part of The Park’s early Animal education curriculum.

“His description of his Kittenhood and of the feral world has tremendous value, especially for our young,” says Beatrice Zilonis, professor of history at the University of West Terrier.

The book is up for prizes in the non-fiction category at both the Chitter Radio Literary Awards and the Feline Fiction Fest. It is also entered in the hybrid category at the Feline Fiction Fest.

Wyuna Winkle, proprietor of The Literary Apothecary, said her shop was “overrun” by Tricolore enthusiasts when he spent a half-day there recently.

“He arrived for a short pawprinting session, but they wouldn’t let him go. He’s become quite the celebrity,” she said.

The Chitter Radio Literary Awards (formerly The Park Literary Awards) will take place on 15 June. The Feline Fiction Fest will run from 16-18 June.

Registered members of The Park’s Builders’ Guild (Association of Professional Park Construction Workers), dressed in their work clothes, pose for pictures outside the construction site of the Park Museum. The Guild agreed to donate the photos to a calendar that will be sold by the Park Museum to raise funds for its construction.

The Park Museum has taken the unusual step of enlisting the help of its own construction workers in its campaign to raise funds for the Museum.

In a press release dated today and posted on the Museum’s web site, the Board of Governors of the Museum announced that they will be publishing a fundraising calendar that will be available for purchase as early as September.

According to a SpokesAnimal for the Builders’ Guild, the photographs will be “candid, at-work pictures that will give Park Animals an appreciation of the size of the project and the kind of work that went into building the Museum.”

In addition to the workers’ photographs, the calendar will offer a “sneak peek” of the Museum’s interior and of a number of recently-acquired items in the Museum’s collection.

The calendar will be sold at a small kiosk outside the Museum construction site as well as at select shops in The Park. Online orders will also be taken, a SpokesAnimal for the Museum said. For more information, please contact the Park Museum order desk at orders@parkmuseum.info.