Vincent Anioke is a Nigerian-Canadian writer, [1] whose debut short story collection Perfect Little Angels was a finalist for the 2024 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for debut books by Canadian LGBTQ writers. [2]
Born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria, he published the novel Whirlwind of Metamorphosis in 2014 before moving to the United States to study computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [3] He currently lives in Waterloo, Ontario, where he is employed as a software engineer with Google. [4]
He was shortlisted for the African division of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2021 for "Ogbuefi", [5] and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in 2023 for "Mama's Lullabies". [6] He has also been longlisted on three occasions for the CBC Short Story Prize. [1]
The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer who has not yet published his or her first book. Formerly restricted to writers under age 35, the age limit was removed in 2021, with the prize now open to emerging writers regardless of age.
Michael Crummey is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Marina Endicott is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Her novel Good to a Fault won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Canada and the Caribbean. It was a finalist for the Giller Prize and was longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC award. Her next, The Little Shadows, was longlisted for the Giller Prize and shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award. Close to Hugh was longlisted for the Giller Prize and named one of CBC's Best Books of 2015. The Difference won the City of Edmonton Robert Kroetsch Prize. It was published in the US by W. W. Norton as The Voyage of the Morning Light in June 2020. Her latest book, The Observer, won the City of Saskatoon Book Prize and the Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award in 2023.
Madeleine Thien is a Canadian short story writer and novelist. The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Literature has considered her work as reflecting the increasingly trans-cultural nature of Canadian literature, exploring art, expression and politics inside Cambodia and China, as well as within diasporic East Asian communities. Thien's critically acclaimed novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, won the 2016 Governor General's Award for English-language fiction, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards for Fiction. It was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, and the 2017 Rathbones Folio Prize. Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages.
Heather O'Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by singer-songwriter John K. Samson. Lullabies won the competition. The book also won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for eight other major awards, including the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Governor General's Award and was longlisted for International Dublin Literary Award.
Rabindranath Maharaj is a Trinidadian-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and a founding editor of the Canadian literary journal Lichen. His novel The Amazing Absorbing Boy won the 2010 Trillium Book Award and the 2011 Toronto Book Award, and several of his books have been shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
Ian Williams is a Canadian poet and fiction writer. His collection of short stories, Not Anyone's Anything, won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, and his debut novel, Reproduction, was awarded the 2019 Giller Prize. His work has been shortlisted for various awards, as well.
The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Originally presented as a general career achievement award for emerging writers that considered their overall body of work, since 2022 it has been presented to honor debut books.
Marjorie Celona is an American-Canadian writer. Their debut novel, Y, published in 2012, won the Waterstones 11 literary prize and was a shortlisted nominee for the Center for Fiction's Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and a longlisted nominee for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Chigozie Obioma is a Nigerian writer who wrote the novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), both of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize in their respective years of publication. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages. His third novel, The Road to the Country, was published in 2024, and was described by The Guardian as having "given a voice" to the victims of the Nigerian civil war.
Eva Crocker is a Canadian writer based in St. John's, whose debut short story collection Barrelling Forward was published in 2017.
Amy Jones is a Canadian writer, whose debut novel We're All in This Together was a shortlisted finalist for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour in 2017.
Jen Neale is a Canadian writer, whose debut novel Land Mammals and Sea Creatures was a shortlisted finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2018.
Zalika Reid-Benta is a Canadian author. Her debut novel River Mumma was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award and her debut short story collection Frying Plantain was nominated and won numerous awards.
John Elizabeth Stintzi is a Canadian-born writer, most noted for winning the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in 2019. They are a dual citizen of both the United States and Canada.
Maria Reva is a Canadian writer. She is most noted for her short story collection Good Citizens Need Not Fear, which was a shortlisted finalist for the 2020 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
Shashi Bhat is a Canadian writer, whose 2021 novel The Most Precious Substance on Earth was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2022 Governor General's Awards.
Kathy Friedman is a South African-born Canadian writer, whose debut short story collection All the Shining People was published in 2022. The stories in All the Shining People centre on characters in the Jewish community in Toronto, principally the South African Jewish community.
Éric Chacour is a Canadian writer from Quebec, whose debut novel Ce que je sais de toi was published in 2023.
Hazel Jane Plante is a Canadian writer from Vancouver, British Columbia, whose debut novel Little Blue Encyclopedia was published in 2019. The book won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature at the 32nd Lambda Literary Awards in 2020, and was a shortlisted finalist for Publishing Triangle's Leslie Feinberg Award in the same year.