Amazon Canada and The Walrus has unveiled the nominees for the 43rd annual First Novel Award. The award honours Canadian authors and their debut novels.
This year, both the winner and finalists will receive larger prizes than in past years. The winner will get a prize of $60,000 CAD, and each of the six finalists will receive $6,000 in prize money.
On May 22nd, Amazon Canada and The Walrus will host the ceremony and announce the winner at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto. CBC‘s Shelagh Rogers will host the event with guest speaker Yann Martel, the Man Booker Prize-winning author of the Life of Pi.
Here are the finalists for the award:
- The Amateurs, Liz Harmer (Knopf Canada)
- Searching for Terry Punchout, Tyler Hellard (Invisible Publishing)
- Little Fish, Casey Plett (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Split Tooth, Tanya Tagaq (Viking Canada)
- Jonny Appleseed, Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Reproduction, Ian Williams (Penguin Random House Canada)
The award ceremony will also host the Youth Short Story category featuring authors between the age of 13 and 17. These young authors submitted short stories under 3,000 words, and the winner will receive $5,000 and a mentorship lunch with the editors from The Walrus.
“I am always impressed by the talent the First Novel Award nominees, and our Youth Author applicants have to offer, and this year is no exception,” said Mike Strauch, country manager for Amazon Canada in a press release.
Source: Amazon Canada
