TORONTO — Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Souvankham Thammavongsa is among the Ontario writers in the running for the Trillium Book Award.
The Toronto-based writer, who won the Trillium prize for early works of poetry in 2013, is a contender for the main book award this year with her debut collection of short stories "How to Pronounce Knife," published by McClelland & Stewart.
Other finalists include London, Ont.-based Emma Donoghue's pandemic-set historical novel "The Pull of the Stars," from HarperCollins Publishers, and St. Catharines, Ont.-raised Craig Davidson's book of short stories "Cascade," from Knopf Canada.
Rounding out the short list are the collection "As Far As You Know," by Toronto poet laureate A.F. Moritz for House of Anansi Press, and the novel "Seven," by Toronto-area author Farzana Doctor for Dundurn Press.
This year's nominees for the Trillium Book Award for poetry are Whitby, Ont.-based Canisia Lubrin's acclaimed collection "The Dyzgraphxst," from McClelland & Stewart; Toronto-based Jody Chan's "sick," from Black Lawrence Press; and Toronto wordsmith Irfan Ali's "Accretion," from Brick Books.
The winners will be revealed at a virtual event on June 15.
Winners of the main Trillium Book Award, which recognizes literary excellence across genres, are awarded $20,000 and their publishers receive $2,500 to promote the titles.
Poets can submit their first three works for consideration for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry. The Trillium hands out honours for French-language children's literature and poetry in alternating years.
In each of these categories, the author receives $10,000 and their publisher receives $2,000.
French-language finalists for the Trillium Book Award are: Daniel Castillo Durante's "Tango" and Charles-Étienne Ferland's "Métamorphoses," both from Éditions L'Interligne; Nicole V. Champeau's "Niagara … la voie qui y mène" and Danièle Vallée's "Sept nuits dans la vie de Chérie," both from Éditions David; and Melchior Mbonimpa's "Au sommet du Nanzerwé il s'est assis et il a pleuré" from Éditions Prise de parole.
The category for French-language children's literature includes: Marise Gasque's "La Neva pour se retrouver" and Éric Mathieu's "Capitaine Boudu et les enfants de la Cédille," both from Éditions L'Interligne, and Micheline Marchand's "Perdue au bord de la baie d'Hudson," from Éditions David.
The Trillium Book Award, established in 1987, is presented by the provincial agency Ontario Creates.
Previous winners include Dionne Brand, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood and Thomas King.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2021.
Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press
