Author Michael Crummey's Galore was named best book in the Canada and Caribbean category. (Random House/Canadian Press)

Nova Scotia writer Shandi Mitchell and Newfoundland and Labrador's Michael Crummey advance to the finals of the Commonwealth Writers Prize after their books were chosen winners in the Canada and Caribbean regional category Thursday.

Mitchell won the first novel honours for Under This Unbroken Sky and Crummey's Galore was named best novel .

Their books will compete with those from other Commonwealth regions April 12 at the finals in New Delhi.

Both writers were hailed as "first-class storytellers" by a jury appointed by the Commonwealth Foundation.

Shandi Mitchell said the win for her debut book resulted in 'over-the-moon excitement.' (Shandi Mitchell)

Crummey's Galore depicts multiple generations of two outport families divided by wealth, status and religion, beginning in the 19th century with the arrival of Irish and English immigrants.

"He never falters in his rendering of the Newfoundland idiom and in the energy of a story that spans six generations," jury chair Antonia MacDonald-Smythe said in her citation.

"Etched in wit, raucous and inventive, Crummey's Galore is a seamless melding of myth and history, an epic masterpiece that is grounded in the folklore of a unique part of Canada."

Over the moon

Mitchell, who lives and writes in Wellington, N.S., just outside Halifax, said being chosen for her debut novel was "pretty overwhelming."

"The emotions are somewhere between disbelief and relief and gratitude and over-the-moon excitement," she told CBC News.

Under This Unbroken Sky tells the story of a Ukrainian family trying to survive in the Prairies.

"Mitchell's own sensuous response to her environment is powerfully reflected in her characters, who are seeking to align themselves with that indifferent world even as the tensions of their past lead them into an intricate, inevitable and entirely convincing tragedy," MacDonald-Smythe said.

Other regional winners announced Thursday:

• South Asia and Europe: best book, Solo, by Rana Dasgupta, India; best first book, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, by Daniyal Mueenuddin, Pakistan.
• Africa: best book, The Double Crown, by Marie Heese, South Africa; best first book, I Do Not Come to You By Chance, by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Nigeria.
• Southeast Asia and Pacific: best book, The Adventures of Vela, by Albert Wendt, Samoa; best first book, Siddon Rock, by Glenda Guest, Australia.

The prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English and is supported by the Macquarie Group Foundation of Australia.