Steinbach writer Miriam Toews
Former Steinbach writer Miriam Toews was amongst Writers’ Trust best Canadian book awards announced yesterday at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto.
The Writers’ Trust of Canada announced winners of six literary prizes and presented $147,000 to authors at the 10th annual Writers’ Trust Awards, one of the richest literary prize-giving events in Canada.
London, Ontario, novelist Emma Donoghue was awarded the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for Room, a story told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy who is held captive with his mother. James FitzGerald, a journalist from Toronto, received the $25,000 Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize for What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son’s Quest to Redeem the Past, an investigation of the author’s remarkable family and the dark secrets that haunted them. The Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize went to Devon Code, the author of “Uncle Oscar,” a short story about a lonely boy’s longing for a male role model.
Three more authors received awards for their excellence in literature: novelist Miriam Toews, children’s writer Polly Horvath, and creative non-fiction writer Myrna Kostash. An additional award for volunteerism was presented to magazine editor and former Writers’ Trust Board Chair John Macfarlane.
The event was hosted by CBC Radio One broadcast journalist Shelagh Rogers.
“For the past ten years the Writers’ Trust Awards have identified and honoured the most gifted writers in Canada, and tonight is no different,” said Peter Kahnert, Writers’ Trust Chair and senior vice president, corporate communications and marketing, Raymond James Ltd. “We will continue to support and encourage the world-class talent that exists in all corners of this country and seek to make Canada the best place in the world for writers to write.”
