Latest news with #CanisiaLubrin
CBC
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Nalo Hopkinson and Canisia Lubrin shortlisted for the 2025 Sunburst Award
Social Sharing Nalo Hopkinson and Canisia Lubrin are among the shortlisted authors for the 2025 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. After a four-year hiatus, the award is back, offering increased prize money of $3,000 and recognizing Canadian writers for their speculative fiction. Hopkinson is nominated for her novel Blackheart Man, which takes place on the magical island of Chynchin, and draws from a Caribbean folktale told to scare children into behaving. In Jamaica, this character is called the Blackheart Man. In the novel, the Blackheart Man's sinister presence coincides with the arrival of colonizers trying to force a trade agreement. Children start disappearing and tar statues come to life. Veycosi, a mischievous and fame-seeking griot (poet and musician), fears that he's connected with the Blackheart Man's resurgence, and finds himself in over his head trying to stop him. Hopkinson is the author of many novels and short stories including Brown Girl in the Ring, which won the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest and was defended on Canada Reads in 2008 by Jemeni. Her other books include Sister Mine, Midnight Robber, The Chaos, The New Moon's Arms and Skin Folk. In 2021, she won the Damon Knight Grand Master award, a lifetime achievement award for science fiction. Lubrin is shortlisted for her debut short story collection Code Noir, which ranges in genre from contemporary realism to historical fiction and speculative fantasy. The Code Noir, or the Black Code, was a set of 59 articles decreed by Louis XVI in 1685, which regulated ownership of slaves in all French colonies. In Code Noir, Lubrin reflects on these codes to examine the legacy of enslavement and colonization, and the inherent power of Black resistance. The inherent power of resistance: How Canisia Lubrin's debut novel Code Noir reflects on postcolonial agency Lubrin is a writer, editor and teacher. Her debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was longlisted for the Gerald Lambert Award, the Pat Lowther Award and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. Her poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst, won the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. It also won the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for poetry. The other shortlisted authors are Frankie Barnet for Mood Swings, Sydney Hegele for Bird Suit and Clayton B. Smith for A Seal of Salvage. The shortlist was selected by jurors Natalee Caple, Geoff Ryman and Lorina Stephens out of 78 books. The winner will be announced in the fall.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Lubrin lands $10K award for debut fiction
Canisia Lubrin better may need to upgrade her literary trophy case soon. On June 5, Lubrin's Code Noir was named the winner of the $10,000 Writers' Union of Canada Danuta Gleed Literary Award, presented to the best first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author in English. The win comes just months after Lubrin won the US$150,000 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for the work of 'linked fictions.' Code Noir also landed on the short lists for the Writers' Trust of Canada's Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language fiction. Subterrane Buy on Lubrin has landed big awards in both poetry and fiction — her 2020 poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst won the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2021, an award which came with $65,000. ● ● ● More prizes: Montreal's Valérie Bah has won the $60,000 Amazon Canada First Novel award for their book Subterrane, published in October 2024 by Véhicule Press. Dubbed a 'speculative comedy,' the book focuses on the Black and queer voices in the fictional North American metropolis of New Stockholm, and how communities in cities are being short-changed in the name of prosperity. Buy on A number of Manitoba authors have won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award in previous years, including Joan Thomas in 2009 for Reading by Lightning, katherena vermette in 2017 for The Break, Michael Kaan in 2019 for The Water Beetles and Casey Plett in 2020 for Little Fish. ● ● ● Looking for an ideal (and somewhat last-minute) Father's Day gift? Winnipeg music historian and author John Einarson will be signing copies of his latest book From Born to Be Wild to Dazed and Confused: Rock Music's Revolution in 1968 at the Indigo at St. Vital Centre from 1-3 p.m. ● ● ● Michael Decter launches his second novel The Fulcrum at 7 p.m. tonight at McNally Robinson Booksellers' Grant Park location in one of the bookstore's last readings before summer. The novel, Decter's second work of fiction and ninth book overall, follows a budding climate scientist and his long-distance beau, she also a scientist, who encounter a woman on the run from the IRA in Cambridge, Mass. that derails their plans. Meanwhile, the hurricane to end all hurricanes is bearing down on Miami. Can anyone be saved? ● ● ● The Prairie Comics Festival and At Bay Press are co-hosting the launch of the latest graphic novel about four young women in the 1980s hell-bent on justice in the face of the exploitation of women. Curb Angels: Pound for Pound picks up the story the quartet launched in 2019's Curb Angels, written by Christopher Ducharme and illustrated by Lisa Mendis. The latest volume, written by Nyala Ali and illustrated by Mendis, catches up on the foursome as they continue to fight injustice. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. The launch of Curb Angels: Pound for Pound takes place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Prairie Comics Festival studio (611-70 Arthur St.), where Ali, Mendis and typographer Lucas C. Pauls will read from and discuss the graphic novel. Copies of both volumes will be available to purchase and get signed; the event is free to attend. ● ● ● Local authors will convene at Sookram's Brewing Co. (479-B Warsaw Ave.) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as part of the fourth Wild & Wonderful Words reading event. Hosted once again by creator and local author Sheldon Birnie (Where the Pavement Turns to Sand), the event will feature readings by Ariel Gordon (Fungal, Treed, Stowaways), Mitchell Toews (Pinching Zwieback), Antonio Marrazas Luna and Zoë Mills. The event is free and all ages. books@ Ben SigurdsonLiterary editor, drinks writer Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press's literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben. In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press's editing team before being posted online or published in print. It's part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canisia Lubrin and Matthew Walsh among finalists for 2025 Trillium Book Awards
Canisia Lubrin and Matthew Walsh are among the finalists for the 2025 Trillium Book Awards presented by Ontario Creates. Established in 1987, the prize annually recognizes the best book and best poetry collection from writers in Ontario. The winners in both the English and French categories of the Trillium Book Award will receive $20,000, while the winner of the poetry category will receive $10,000. This year, the category for best book of children's literature in French will also be awarded. Lubrin is shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Code Noir, which was also shortlisted for the 2024 Atwood Gibson Fiction prize and won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. The Code Noir, or the Black Code, was a set of 59 articles decreed by Louis XVI in 1685 which regulated ownership of slaves in all French colonies. In Code Noir, Lubrin reflects on these codes to examine the legacy of enslavement and colonization — and the inherent power of Black resistance. Lubrin is a Canadian writer, editor and academic who was born in St. Lucia and currently based in Whitby, Ont. Her debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was longlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award, the Pat Lowther Award and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. Her poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst won the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. It also won the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for poetry. Walsh is shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for poetry for Terrarium. Terrarium is a poetry collection that explores queer identity and depression using a conversational writing style. Raw, confessional and often messy, the voice has a quality of intimacy and shared secrets. 35 books for Pride month by writers in Canada Walsh is a poet known for their debut book These are not the potatoes of my youth, which was a finalist for the Trillium and Gerald Lampert Awards. Walsh has previously contributed poetry to publications like The Malahat Review and Arc. They are now based in Toronto. The 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is accepting submissions! Other notable writers on the shortlists include Maurice Vellekoop and Faith Arkorful. Vellekoop's I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together is a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, which was also shortlisted for the 2025 Doug Wright Award for best Canadian comic and won the 2024 Toronto Book Award. I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together depicts his intense childhood and difficult young adulthood as a young gay person in a strict Christian household. Set in Toronto from the 1970s, Vellekoop begins to see his relationships with his mother and father fracture. As he ventures out on his own, he explores his passion for art and is set on finding romance and is met with violent attacks and the anxiety surrounding the AIDS era. Maurice Vellekoop wins $10K Toronto Book Award for graphic memoir I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together Vellekoop is a Toronto-born writer and artist. He has been an illustrator for the past three decades, including for companies like Air Canada and Bush Irish Whiskey. He is also the author of A Nut at the Opera. Arkorful is nominated for the Trillium Book Award for poetry for their debut collection, The Seventh Town of Ghosts. The Seventh Town of Ghosts explores these titular towns through songs that help readers grapple with the challenges of existence and independence. The book offers insight into the power of connection, tenderness and the human spirit. Arkorful has had her work published in Guts, Peach Mag, Prism International, Hobart, Without/pretend, The Puritan and Canthius, among others. She was a semi-finalist in the 2019 92Y Discovery Contest. Faith was born in Toronto, where she still resides. In 2020, she was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. The full shortlists for the 2025 Trillium Awards are below. Trillium Book Award: Wild Houses by Colin Barrett My Fighting Family: Borders and Bloodlines and the Battles That Made Us by Morgan Campbell Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin Who Will Bury You? And Other Stories by Chido Muchemwa I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together by Maurice Vellekoop Trillium Book Award for Poetry: The Seventh Town of Ghosts by Faith Arkorful DADDY by Jake Byrne Terrarium by Matthew Walsh Prix Trillium: Céline au Congo by Aristote Kavungu Toronto jamais bleue by Marie-Hélène Larochelle Le prince africain, le traducteur et le nazi by Didier Leclair Un lourd prix à payer by Claire Ménard-Roussy Nickel City Fifs : Une épopée queer sudburoise sur fond de trous by Alex Tétreault Prix du livre jeunesse Trillium: Rose du désert by Michèle Laframboise Le roi Poubelle by Eudes La Roche-Francoeur Le bonnet magique by Mireille Messier The winners will be announced on June 18, 2025. Last year's winners were Nina Dunic for The Clarion and A. Light Zachary for More Sure.
CBC
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Ontario writer Canisia Lubrin wins $208K Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Canadian writer Canisia Lubrin has won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. The $150,000 U.S. ($207,582.64 Cdn) prize recognizes the best fiction book by a woman or non-binary writer from the U.S. and Canada. It is presently the largest international literary prize for women writers. The winner will also receive a five-night residency at the Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland. Lubrin is honoured for her book Code Noir, which was also shortlisted for the 2024 Atwood Gibson Fiction prize. The Code Noir, or the Black Code, was a set of 59 articles decreed by Louis XVI in 1685 which regulated ownership of slaves in all French colonies. In Code Noir, Lubrin reflects on these codes to examine the legacy of enslavement and colonization — and the inherent power of Black resistance. The inherent power of resistance: How Canisia Lubrin's debut novel Code Noir reflects on postcolonial agency Lubrin is a Canadian writer, editor and academic who was born in St. Lucia and currently based in Whitby, Ont. Her debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was longlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award, the Pat Lowther Award and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. Her poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst won the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. It also won the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for poetry. The 2025 jury was chaired by American writer Diana Abu-Jaber. The other jury members are Canadian authors Tessa McWatt, Kim Fu and Norma Dunning and American author Jeanne Thornton. " Code Noir contains multitudes. Its characters inhabit multi-layered landscapes of the past, present and future, confronting suffering, communion, and metamorphosis. Canisia Lubrin's prose is polyphonic; the stories invite you to immerse yourself in both the real and the speculative, in the intimate and in sweeping moments of history," said the jury. "Riffing on the Napoleonic decree, Lubrin retunes the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and violence. This is a virtuoso collection that breaks new ground in short fiction." The four remaining finalists included Pale Shadows by Canadian novelist Dominique Fortier, translated by Rhonda Mullins, along with American titles All Fours by Miranda July, Liars by Sarah Manguso and River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure. They received $12,500 U.S. ($17,301.28 Cdn). The four finalists and the winner will be invited to participate in a group retreat residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction was created to recognize novels, short story collections, and graphic novels written by women and non-binary authors and published in the U.S. and Canada. Planning for the prize began back in 2012 after Canadian author Susan Swan participated in a discussion of the status of women in writing on a panel that included Kate Mosse, who established the U.K. Women's Prize for Fiction and Australian writer Gail Jones. It was moderated by Shields's daughter Anne Giardini. Looking at statistics generated by arts organizations like VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and Canadian Women in Literary Arts (CWILA), Swan found that women writers were being reviewed in publications far less than their male counterparts. The historical numbers for major literary awards are particularly dismal — only 17 women have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1909 and about a third of the winners of Canada's oldest literary prize, the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction, have been women. Shields, the prize's namesake, was one of Canada's best-known writers.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canisia Lubrin wins Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for ‘Code Noir'
Canisia Lubrin has won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her book 'Code Noir.' The Whitby, Ont.-based author will receive US$150,000. The award is the largest English-language literary prize for women and non-binary authors and is open to Canadians and Americans. Another Canadian entry among the five shortlisted books was 'Pale Shadows,' written by Dominique Fortier and translated by Rhonda Mullins. Jury members praised Lubrin's prose as 'polyphonic,' calling 'Code Noir' a 'virtuoso collection that breaks new ground in short fiction.' Lubrin's other work has been recognized with the Griffin Poetry Prize, OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, Windham-Campbell prize for poetry and more. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
