Latest news with #Writers'TrustofCanada
Winnipeg Free Press
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Leslie Jamison wins Writers' Trust award for international non-fiction author
American author and essayist Leslie Jamison has won this year's $75,000 Weston International Award. The prize, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada, recognizes the career achievement of a non-fiction writer from outside of Canada. Jurors praise Jamison's 'mastery of language' and say she brings rigorous scholarship to writing about her most intimate thoughts. Jamison's non-fiction work includes the essay collections 'The Empathy Exams' and 'Make It Scream, Make It Burn' and the memoirs 'The Recovering' and 'Splinters.' She also teaches at Columbia University, where she directs the non-fiction Masters of Fine Arts program. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The Writers' Trust plans to host an on-stage interview with Jamison at the Royal Ontario Museum in September. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Leslie Jamison wins Writers' Trust award for international non-fiction author
American author and essayist Leslie Jamison has won this year's $75,000 Weston International Award. The prize, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada, recognizes the career achievement of a non-fiction writer from outside of Canada. Jurors praise Jamison's 'mastery of language' and say she brings rigorous scholarship to writing about her most intimate thoughts. Jamison's non-fiction work includes the essay collections 'The Empathy Exams' and 'Make It Scream, Make It Burn' and the memoirs 'The Recovering' and 'Splinters.' She also teaches at Columbia University, where she directs the non-fiction Masters of Fine Arts program. The Writers' Trust plans to host an on-stage interview with Jamison at the Royal Ontario Museum in September. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.
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.
Winnipeg Free Press
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Emerging authors land $10K prize to kickstart career
The Writers' Trust of Canada has announced the winners in three categories of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, which aims to help developing authors land a book deal and further their work. Vancouver author Jess Goldman won the short fiction award for the story Tombstone of a Tsaddik, beating out Toronto's Alexis Lachaîne and Victoria's Hana Mason. In the creative non-fiction category, the top spot went to Toronto's Phillip Dwight Morgan for White Trucks and Mergansers; Morgan beat out fellow Torontonians Graham Slaughter and Huyen Trân. And in the poetry category, Vancouver author Dora Prieto took top honours for Loose Threads, besting Vancouver's Cicely Grace and Saskatchewan's Nicole Mae. Each of the winners receives $10,000, are invited to networking events and have their work published in both print and digital formats. For more about the authors and to read their submissions, see ● ● ● The Forks Market launches a new literary series on Friday with a discussion about Winnipeg, affordability and more. The first instalment of the Lectures and Lagers series kicks off at 6 p.m. with Michel Durand-Wood, author of You'll Pay for This! How We Can Afford a Great City for Everyone, Forever, published by Great Plains Press. The event, which takes place in the second-floor event space at The Forks Market, will see Durand-Wood read from the book and then take part in a Q&A with Johanna Hurme of 5468796 Architecture. Registration is required, with a suggested donation of $20; Durand-Wood's book can also be purchased through the registration page, which is at The lagers of said event (as well as ales, wine and non-alcoholic beverages) will be available for purchase from an on-site mobile bar. Buy on ● ● ● Spring book launches at McNally Robinson Booksellers' Grant Park location are in the final stretch before the quieter summer months set in. On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Winnipeg educator and filmmaker Kevin Nikkel launches Founding Folks: An Oral History of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, published by University of Manitoba Press, which includes interviews with folk fest staff, volunteers and performers. The event will be hosted by David Knipe and will feature the musical stylings of Big Dave McLean. On Friday, Nikkel's documentary about the Winnipeg Folk Festival, When We Became Folk Fest, opens at the Dave Barber Cinematheque (100 Arthur St.); the opening-night screening will be followed by a Q&A featuring Nikkel and Winnipeg music historian John Einarson. Buy on Back at McNally Robinson, on Thursday at 7 p.m. York University English Prof. Robert Zacharias launches In Search of a Mennonite Imagination: Key Texts in Mennonite Literary Criticism, published by CMU Press. The essay and review collection, edited by Zacharias, compiles over 50 pieces of writing from 44 authors spanning more than 150 years; Zacharias also provides an introduction to the book as well as to many of the pieces of writing in the book. Buy on Then on Friday at 7 p.m., Manitoba sheep farmer and wool mill owner Anna Hunter launches her book The True Cost of Wool: A Vision for Revitalizing the Canadian Industry, published by Nine Ten Publications. Hunter examines how the Canadian wool industry has changed over the decades, and how Canada could rebuild a local wool industry to the benefit of farmers, consumers and the environment. Buy on 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
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
5 Canadian emerging writers named 2025 Writers' Trust rising stars
Social Sharing Allison Graves, Zilla Jones, Dilan Qadir, Liz Stewart and Isabella Wang have been named the 2025 Writers' Trust of Canada's Rising Stars. Launched in 2019, the Writers' Trust Rising Stars program is an initiative supporting Canadian writers early in their careers. Each year, five talented emerging writers are chosen and mentored by prominent Canadian authors. The recipients also receive $5,000 and attend a two-week self-directed writing residency at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts on the Toronto Islands. Graves is a Newfoundland-based writer and musician. Soft Serve, her debut fiction collection, was shortlisted for an Atlantic Book Award. Her work has appeared in The Antigonish Review, Riddle Fence Magazine and Room Magazine. Her fiction has been longlisted for prizes in Prism, The Fiddlehead and The Newfoundland Quarterly. She is completing her PhD in Irish Literature and teaches at Memorial University. Graves will be mentored by Michael Crummey. Crummey is the Newfoundland-based author of The Adversary, which is nominated for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award, The Innocents, Sweetland, Galore and Arguments with Gravity and Passengers. Three of Crummey's novels have been shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction — Sweetland, Galore and The Innocents. "Allison Graves' writing is generous even when it bites, and it's hilarious as often as it is sobering, which makes her a joy to read," said Crummey in a press statement. Jones is an author based in Winnipeg. She's won many literary awards including the Journey Prize, the Malahat Review Open Season Award, the Jacob Zilber Prize for Short Fiction and the FreeFall short fiction award. Her debut novel, The World So Wide, was released in March 2025. Jones made the 2020 CBC Short Story Prize long list for Our Father and has longlisted twice for her story How to Make a Friend, in 2022 and 2023; in 2024, Jones was included on the CBC Short Story Prize shortlist. The same year, Jones made the long list for the CBC Nonfiction Prize. She was also named a writer to watch by CBC Books in 2024. Zilla Jones' debut novel explores a mixed-race woman's search for identity and belonging The CBC Poetry Prize is open now until June 1. The winner receives $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and their work will be published on CBC Books. You can learn more here. Jones will be mentored by Charlotte Gill, a B.C.-based writer of Indian and English descent. She is the author of memoirs Almost Brown and Eating Dirt, which won the B.C. National Award for Canadian Nonfiction. Her short story collection, Ladykiller, was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award. She currently teaches writing at the University of King's College. She lives in British Columbia. "Zilla Jones' scenes are ingeniously imagined and beautifully written with rewards that endure long after the last page has turned," said Gill a press statement. Qadir is a Kurdish-Canadian writer based in Vancouver. His work, which spans poetry, fiction and nonfiction, has been published in Wax Poetry and Art, Quae Nocent Docent Anthology and The Fiddlehead. He was longlisted for the Vera Manuel Award for Poetry and received the PEN Canada-Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship. Quadir will be mentored by Rabindranath Mahara, the author of several novels and short story collections. His latest is the short story collection A Quiet Disappearance. His novel The Amazing Absorbing Boy won both the Toronto Book Award and the Trillium Book Award. He has previously been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, The Chapters First Novel Award and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. In January 2013, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. "Dilan Qadir's keen observational eye, his ability to blend humour and trauma, his understanding of the historical forces that shape our world, and the authenticity of his writing all evoke admiration," said Qadir in a press statement. Stewart is a writer from Manitoba who currently lives in B.C. She won the This Side of West 2021 Prose and Poetry Contest and has been published in Best Canadian Stories 2025, Plenitude Magazine, carte blanche and Camas Magazine. Stewart will be mentored by Casey Plett, the author of A Dream of a Woman, Little Fish, A Safe Girl to Love. She is a winner of the Amazon First Novel Award, the Firecracker Award for Fiction and a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award. Her work has also been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Plett splits her time between New York City and Windsor, Ont. "Liz Stewart's work is honest and beautiful — real, singular, and urgent," said Plett in a press statement. "Stewart is making something intimate that anyone can believe and see." Wang is the writer of chapbook On Forgetting a Language and Pebble Swing, which was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. She was shortlisted for Arc's Poem of the year Content, The Malahat Review's Far Horizons Awards for Poetry and Long Poem Contest, Minola Review's Inaugural Poetry Contest and twice for the New Quarterly's Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest. She lives in B.C. and directs Revise-Revision Street, a nonprofit editing and mentorship program. Wang will be mentored by Joseph Dandurand, a poet from the Kwantlen First Nation. His collections include The East Side of It All, which was a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, The Rumour, SH:LAM (The Doctor) and I Will Be Corrupted. He is the director of the Kwantlen Cultural Centre and the artistic director of the Vancouver Poetry House. In 2019, he won the Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize. "Isabella Wang demonstrates immense promise as she constructs more of herself," said Dandurand in a press statement. "There will be great poetry created by such creativity and resourcefulness." The Writers' Trust of Canada is an organization that supports Canadian writers through literary awards, fellowships, financial grants, mentorships and more. It gives out 11 prizes in recognition of the year's best in fiction, nonfiction and short story, as well as mid-career and lifetime achievement awards. The Writers' Trust Rising Stars program is supported by presenting sponsor BMO Financial Group, Clair Duff in memory of Catherine Shepard, Deb MacLeod and Ward Sellers, as well as John Terry and Lisa Rochon and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.
