TORONTO — Dionne Brand and Miriam Toews are among the Ontario-based writers in the running for the Trillium Book Award.
Sixteen titles were shortlisted Tuesday for the awards honouring homegrown literary talent in Ontario.
Brand and Toews are among the five finalists in the English-language book category.
Brand, a former Toronto poet laureate who won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 1998, is nominated for “The Blue Clerk” (McClelland & Stewart), which is also up for this year’s Griffin Poetry Prize.
Toronto-based Toews received a nod for her novel, “Women Talking,” (Knopf Canada), which was shortlisted for the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction.
Rounding out the book category are Claudia Dey’s “Heartbreaker” (HarperAvenue/HarperCollins), K.D. Miller’s “Late Breaking” (Biblioasis) and Tamara Faith Berger’s “Queen Solomon” (Coach House Books).
English-language poetry finalists include Gwen Benaway’s “Holy Wild” (Book*hug), Stevie Howell’s “I left nothing inside on purpose” (McClelland & Stewart) and Robin Richardson’s ”Sit How You Want” (Signal Editions/Vehicule Press).
The five shortlisted French-language books are:
- Alain Doom, “Un quai entre deux mondes” (Prise de parole)
- Gilles Latour, ”A la merci de l’etoile” (Les Editions L’Interligne)
- Lisa L’Heureux, “Et si un soir” (Prise de parole)
- Yvon Malette, “Entre le risque et le reve” (Editions David)
- David Menard, “Poupee de rouille” (Les Editions L’Interligne)
The three finalists for French-language children’s literature are:
- Pierre-Luc Belanger, “L’Odyssee des neiges” (Editions David)
- Diya Lim, “La marchande, la sorciere, la lune et moi” (Les Editions L’Interligne)
- Daniel Marchildon, “Otages de la nature” (Editions David)
The winners will be announced at an industry dinner in Toronto on June 13.
Recipients of the Trillium Book Award receive $20,000, and their respective publishers receive $2,500 to promote the winning titles.
Winners in the poetry and children’s literature categories receive $10,000, and their publisher $2,000 for promotion of the titles.
Poets can submit their first three works for consideration in the poetry category. After that, they are eligible for the main Trillium Book Prize, which recognizes literary excellence across genres.
Finalists in all categories will each receive a $500 honorarium.
Previous Trillium winners have included Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro.