Ontario Creates Announces 13 Trillium Book Award Finalists

TORONTO | May 7, 2024 | Ontario Creates, an agency of the government of Ontario, is proud to present the finalists for the 2024 Trillium Book Awards, the province’s most prestigious literary prizes for English and French-language Ontario authors.

The Trillium Book Award, now in its 37^th year, has a long tradition of recognizing literary excellence, and promoting the diversity of Ontario writers and their work. 13 titles are nominated for the 2024 Trillium Book Awards – across all genres, in English and French. This year’s finalists explore the intricacies of personal relationships; they guide us on a quest to find belonging; they share with us the grief of a personal loss; and reveal to us the essence of being human. In short, they answer the question of what it means to be alive.

English-language Finalists for the Trillium Book Award:

• Mike Barnes, Sleep is Now a Foreign Country: Encounters with the Uncanny, Biblioasis
• Nina Dunic, The Clarion, Invisible Publishing
• D.A. Lockhart, North of Middle Island, Kegedonce Press
• Kathryn Mockler, Anecdotes, Book*hug Press
• Zalika Reid-Benta, River Mumma, Penguin Canada / Penguin Random House Canada

French-language Finalists for the Trillium Book Award:

• Martin Bélanger, La fin de nos programmes, Del Busso éditeur
• Andrée Christensen, Plonge, Freya, vole!, Les Éditions David
• David Ménard, L’aurore martyrise l’enfant, Éditions L'Interligne
• Paul Ruban, Le parfum de la baleine, Flammarion Québec
• Nicolas Weinberg, Vivre ou presque, Éditions L'Interligne

Finalists for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in English:

• Britta Badour, Wires that Sputter, McClelland & Stewart / Penguin Random House Canada
• Catriona Wright, Continuity Errors, Coach House Books
• A. Light Zachary, More Sure, Arsenal Pulp Press

Ontario Creates did not receive the minimum number of submissions required to award the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in French this year. The Prix Trillium is committed to promoting and supporting Franco-Ontarian poets, and a special presentation at the event on June 20 will showcase past winners of the prize and spotlight the rich tradition of Franco-Ontarian poetry. Ontario Creates looks forward to consulting with our Francophone partners in the publishing community prior to the next edition of the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in French. The Trillium Book Award for Children’s Literature in French will be awarded in 2025.

Find out more about these established and emerging Ontario authors and their nominated works here.

The Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium winners will be announced during an award ceremony on June 20, 2024. We invite you to visit our website and join us on our social channels to discover and celebrate these authors and their literary works.

QUOTES

“Ontario authors continue to captivate the imaginations of readers at home and abroad. These visionary storytellers are breathing life into ideas and inspiring and entertaining audiences, establishing new standards for literary excellence while contributing to the continued growth of Ontario’s publishing industry. Congratulations to all finalists!”
~ The Honourable Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Ontario Creates is proud to produce the Trillium Book Awards each year highlighting outstanding literary talent by Ontario authors and their publishers. The 2024 finalists showcase the depth and range of our literary heritage. We applaud these authors and their publishers who help in contributing $980M to Ontario’s economy, employing over 6,000 people. Bookmark these Trillium authors and support these titles at your local independent bookstore!
~ Aaron Campbell, Chair, Ontario Creates

QUICK FACTS

• The Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium encourages excellence in literature by investing in Ontario-based writers. Award recipients receive $20,000 and their respective publishers receive support to promote the winning titles.
• Three titles are short-listed for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in the English language, which recognizes literary achievement for a first, second or third published work of poetry. Award recipients will receive $10,000 and their respective publishers receive support to promote the winning titles.
• Le Prix du livre d’enfant Trillium (en langue française) was introduced in the 20th Trillium year, and is awarded in alternating years with le Prix de poésie Trillium. Titles published over a two-year period are eligible, encouraging a greater number of submissions for these specific genre awards in the French language. Both awards provide a $10,000 prize. This year, the required level of submissions was not met for le Prix de poésie Trillium. The Prix du livre d’enfant will be awarded in 2025 as scheduled.
• Previous winners include internationally acclaimed authors as Stuart Ross, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Dionne Brand, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Thomas King, Gilles Lacombe, Marguerite Andersen, Andrée Lacelle, Diya Lim, Lisa L’Heureux and François Paré to name a few.
• Ontario is home to the country’s largest book publishing industry, contributing $980M to our economy and supporting 6,130 jobs each year. The publishing industry is both culturally significant and an economic driving force for the province.
• Ontario’s book publishing industry had 1.043B in operating revenues in 2020, representing 63% of total national industry operating revenues.

LEARN MORE

Ontario Creates is proud to produce the Trillium Book Awards each year. The Ontario government established the Trillium Book Award in 1987 to recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and their works.

Ontario Creates is an agency of the Government of Ontario that facilitates economic development, investment and collaboration in Ontario’s creative industries including the music, book, magazine, film, television and interactive digital media sectors.

Media contact:

Michelle Gibson
Argyle PR
416-707-5044
mgibson@argylepr.com

Jennifer Pountney, Manager of Communications
Ontario Creates
JPountney@ontariocreates.ca
416-642-6632

ontariocreates.ca
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