20th Annual Trillium Book Award Shortlist Announced
Ontario literary excellence continues to flourish
TORONTO - Six
English and five French books have been short-listed
for the 20th
Annual Trillium Book Award/20e édition du
Prix littéraire annuel Trillium, the Ontario
government’s prestigious award for literature.
Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the Trillium
Book Award is among the most highly
regarded literary prizes in Canada.
Ontario’s
vibrant publishing industry is both an
important cultural and economic contributor to the
Province’s wealth.
The Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium encourages
excellence in literature through its
significant investment in Ontario-based writers.
Award recipients for both English and
French works receive $20,000. Their respective publishers
also receive $2,500 to
promote the winning titles. All finalists receive
a $500 honorarium.
Three English titles were short-listed for the
Trillium Book Award for Poetry, which
recognizes literary achievement for a first, second
or third published work of poetry.
New this year for authors writing in French is the
Trillium Book Award for Children’s
Literature. This Award will be offered every two
years, alternating with the Trillium Book
Award for Poetry in French. The winner for each of
these awards receives $10,000 and
their publisher $2,000 for promotion of the titles.
Finalists for these awards also receive
a $500 honorarium.
“
On behalf of the province and the people of Ontario,
I congratulate all the finalists.
They, and the publishers who nurture their talents,
enrich our lives and make our
province a better place to live.” said Minister
of Culture Caroline Di Cocco. “We’re
proud
to support our writers through these awards because
we recognize that artists reflect the
best of who we are to ourselves and to the world.”
“
This year’s finalists join a host of distinguished
authors who have won the Award over
the past 20 years,” notes Kevin Shea, Chair
of Ontario Media Development Corporation,
which administers the awards. “
This year, past
Trillium Book Award winners Margaret
Atwood, Alice Munro and Michael Ondaatje are
nominated for the International Man
Booker Prize, and Michèle Matteau and Daniel
Poliquin are finalists for this year’s
Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada.”
TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD/PRIX TRILLIUM FINALISTS
This year’s English Finalists for the Trillium
Book Award/Prix Trillium are:
- Anar Ali, Baby Khaki’s Wings (Penguin
Group Canada)
- Dionne Brand, Inventory (McClelland & Stewart)
- Bernice Eisenstein, I Was a Child of Holocaust
Survivors (McClelland & Stewart)
- Mark Frutkin, Fabrizio’s Return (Knopf
Canada)
- Charlotte Gray, Reluctant Genius (HarperCollins
Canada)
- Wayne Johnston, The Custodian of Paradise
(Knopf Canada)
This year’s French Finalists for the
Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium are:
- Marguerite Andersen,
Doucement le bonheur (Prise de parole)
- Daniel Castillo Durante, La passion des
nomades (ZYZ Éditeur)
- Claude Forand, Ainsi parle le Saigneur
(Les Éditions
David)
- Danile Poliquin, La Kermesse (Les Éditions
du Boréal)
- Paul Savoie, Crac (Les Éditions
David)
English Finalists for theTrillium Book
Award for Poetry are:
- Ken Babstock, Airstream
Land Yacht (House of Anansi Press)
- Adam Dickinson, Kingdom, Phylum (Brick
Books)
- Anita Lahey, Out to Dry in Cape Breton
(Véhicule
Press)
French Finalists for the Trillium Book
Award for Children’s Literature
are:
- Mireille Desjarlais-Heynneman, La nuit
où le
Soleil est parti (Les Éditions
du
Vermillon)
- Céline Forcier, Un canard majuscule (Les Éditions
du Vermillon)
- Françoise Lepage, Poupeska (Les Éditions
L’Interligne)
Minister Di Cocco will announce the
winners in Toronto at an awards luncheon
at
Hart House on June 4, 2007. Several
past and present Trillium Award winning
authors
will participate in a public celebration
of the Trillium Award’s 20th
Anniversary held that
evening at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront
Centre, as part of Luminato, Toronto’s
Festival of Arts and Creativity.
For more information
on the Trillium Book Award nominees go to
www.omdc.on.ca |