The 2020 QWF Awards Gala took place online on Wednesday, November 4, 2020
As you know, this past year has presented many challenges. We worked hard to make The 2020 QWF Awards special even though we weren’t able to gather and celebrate together at the Lion d’Or.
Instead, the seven short lists were announced by video one day at a time, according to the following schedule:
- October 13, 11:00 a.m. – The Concordia University First Book Prize
- October 14, 11:00 a.m. – The QWF Prize for Children’s & Young Adult Literature
- October 15, 11:00 a.m. – Le prix de Traduction de la Fondation Cole
- October 16, 11:00 a.m. – The QWF Prize for Playwriting
- October 17, 11:00 a.m. – The A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry
- October 18, 11:00 a.m. – The Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction
- October 19, 11:00 a.m. – The Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction
On November 4, at 7:00 p.m., we aired a pre-recorded “Gala” video, live from the Atwater Library, to announce the winners of those seven prizes, along with the 3Macs carte blanche Prize and the Judy Mappin Community Award. The Gala was hosted by the talented Montreal poet and performer Deanna Smith.
In addition, between the October finalists announcements and the “Gala” video, we shared videos of all of the finalists reading from their work at regular intervals. Click here for a YouTube playlist of all the finalists’ readings.
If you’d like to know more about the winning authors, we conducted interviews between each winning author and a member of the jury for their corresponding prize category. Click here for the playlist of the winning authors’ interviews.
Award winners
Le Prix de traduction de la Fondation Cole / The Cole Foundation Prize for Translation
Sponsored by the Cole FoundationWinner
shortlisted
NoirEs sous surveillance. Esclavage, répression et violence d’État au Canada
(Mémoire d'encrier)
Translation of
Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present
(Fernwood Publishing)
Jury
Charles Bender
Samuel Mercier
Chantal Ringuet
The A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry
Winner
A Common Name for Everything
(Green Writers Press)
shortlisted
Eight Track
(Talonbooks)
POP
(Coach House Books)
The Headless Man
(Anvil Press)
rushes from the river disappointment
(McGill-Queen’s University Press)
Jury
Katia Grubisic
Ben Ladouceur
Hoa Nguyen
The Concordia University First Book Prize
Sponsored by Concordia UniversityWinner
The Danger Model
(McGill-Queen's University Press)
Jury
Hasan Namir
Naomi Steinberg
RM Vaughan
The Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature
Sponsored in memory of Janet Savage BlachfordWinner
The Three Brothers
(Groundwood Books)
shortlisted
Pokko and the Drum
(Paula Wiseman Books – Simon & Schuster Canada)
Fern and Horn
(Groundwood Books)
Jury
Alan Cumyn
Shauntay Grant
Deanna Smith
The Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction
Winner
shortlisted
The Closet: The Eighteenth-Century Architecture of Intimacy
(Princeton University Press)
The Audacity of His Enterprise: Louis Riel and the Métis Nation That Canada Never Was, 1840-1875
(McGill-Queen’s University Press)
Jury
Jeffrey Bachman
Sonja Boon
Kate Sterns
The Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction
Sponsored by Librairie Paragraphe BookstoreWinner
Dominoes at the Crossroads
(Véhicule Press/Esplanade Book)
shortlisted
Home Game
(Signature Editions)
The Wagers
(Random House Canada)
Butterflies, Zebras, Moonbeams
(Palimpsest Press)
Jury
Douglas Babington
Amanda Leduc
Peter Behrens
The QWF Prize for Playwriting
Sponsored by Gabriel Safdie in conjunction with InfinithéâtreWinner
Albumen
(Arts Court Theatre)
shortlisted
Alice and the World We Live In
(Centaur Theatre)
Sania the Destroyer
(Theatre New Brunswick)
Instant
(Playwrights Canada Press)
Jury
Pablo Felices-Luna
Jackie Maxwell
Djanet Sears
Judy Mappin Community Award
Winner
for her hard work, leadership, and longstanding personal commitment to community in all its forms
carte blanche Prize
Sponsored by 3Macs/Raymond JamesWinner
First Prize: “It’s a Slow Ride”
(Issue 39)
Second Prize: “Thin”
(Issue 39)
Third Prize: “Emote: A Time Capsule”
(Issue 39)
Jury
Greg Santos
Zoe Shaw