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It was a rich award payday for writers Wednesday as $270,000 worth of prizes were given out in seven categories at the annual Writers’ Trust ceremony at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
This year’s awards season has seen a wide range of writers appearing on the shortlists of the country’s biggest prizes, including the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Awards — with little overlap among them, making for an exciting year for debut writers in particular.
On Wednesday, Nicholas Herring won the second annual Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize worth $60,000 for his debut novel “Some Hellish,” with the jury saying “What Cormac McCarthy did for cowboys and horses, Nicholas Herring does for fishermen and boats.” The other finalists each receive $5,000. The winner was selected from 132 books submitted by 70 publishers. This prize was renamed in 2021 and had previously been known variously as the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.
Dan Werb won the Hilary Weston nonfiction prize, also worth $60,000, for his book “The Invisible Siege: The Rise of Coronaviruses and the Search for a Cure,” which the jury called “a scientific detective story that leaves the reader frightened that the villain is still on the loose, and maybe in the house.” The other finalists receive $5,000. For this prize, 103 books were submitted by 63 publishers.
An emerging writer was recognized with the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers, worth $10,00, which went to francesca ekwuyasi for her debut novel “Butter Honey Pig Bread.” This book was longlisted for the Giller Prize and a finalist for the GG in 2020.
Four authors were celebrated for their contributions to literature in Canada through their bodies of literary work: Candace Savage won the $25,000 Matt Cohen Award; Elise Gravel won the $25,000 Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People; Shani Mootoo won the $25,000 Writers’ Trust Engel Findley Award; and Joseph Dandurand won the $25,000 Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize.
The Writers’ Trust is a charitable organization, set up in 1976 by a group of writers — Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, Pierre Berton, Margaret Laurence and David Young — to support Canadian writers professionally and financially. It continues to offer programs to support writers, as well as 11 national literary prizes, financial grants, an emergency fund, and career development.
More information on the winners and the prizes can be found at writerstrust.com.
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