Awards / The QWF Literary Awards

The Concordia University First Book Prize

QWF is proud to have its First Book Prize sponsored by Concordia University, which offers the only BA and MA English-language Creative Writing programs in Quebec.

2021 shortlist

Sponsored by Concordia University

Shortlist

We, Jane (Book*hug Press) by  Aimee Wall
Knot Body (Metatron Press) by  Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Ten Thousand Crossroads: The Path As I Remember It (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by  Balfour M. Mount
Fighting for a Hand to Hold: Confronting Medical Colonialism Against Indigenous Children in Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by  Samir Shaheen-Hussain

Winners archive

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2020

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner
The Danger Model (McGill-Queen's University Press) by  Madelaine Caritas Longman

shortlisted

ZOM-FAM (Metonymy Press) by  Kama La Mackerel
Pluviophile (Nightwood Editions) by  Yusuf Saadi

Jury

Hasan Namir
Naomi Steinberg
RM Vaughan

2019

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner
nîtisânak (Metonymy Press) by  Lindsay Nixon

shortlisted

The Birds That Stay (Second Story Press) by  Ann Lambert
We Were Like Everyone Else (Cormorant Books) by  Ken Victor
Seeker: A Sea Odyssey (Guernica Editions) by  Rita Pomade

Jury

Chantel Lavoie
Maurice Mierau
John Sweet

2018

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner

Zolitude book cover
Zolitude (Biblioasis) by  Paige Cooper

shortlisted

Policing Black Lives: State Violence In Canada from Slavery to the Present (Fernwood Publishing) by  Robyn Maynard
Excitement Tax (DC Books) by  John Emil Vincent

Jury

Sky Gilbert
Maria Francesca LoDico
Gregory Younging

2017

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner

Uncertain Weights book cover
Uncertain Weights and Measures (Goose Lane Editions) by  Jocelyn Parr

shortlisted

Arabic for Beginners (Linda Leith Publishing) by  Ariela Freedman
The Golem of Hampstead and Other Stories (Penny-a-Page Press) by  J. Jacob Potashnik

Jury

Marilyn Bowering
Adrian Harewood
Alexia Moyer

2016

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner

Small Fires (McGill-Queen's University Press) by  Kelly Norah Drukker

shortlisted

Sleeping Giants (Del Rey (New York)) by  Sylvain Neuvel
Indigenous Writes (HighWater Press (an imprint of Portage & Main Press)) by  Chelsea Vowel

Jury

Louise Bernice Halfe
Gillian Jerome
Maria Schamis Turner

2015

Winner
Swing in the House and Other Stories (Véhicule Press) by  Anita Anand

shortlisted

Giving Up (BookThug) by  Mike Steeves
The View North from Liberal Cemetery (Wapiti Press) by  Joel Wapnick

Jury

Jane Eaton Hamilton
Ross Leckie
Lesley Trites

2014

Winner
Sweet Affliction (Invisible Publishing) by  Anna Leventhal

shortlisted

Us Conductors (Random House Canada) by  Sean Michaels
Palawan Story (Deux Voiliers Publishing) by  Caroline Vu

Jury

Licia Canton
Johanna Skibsrud
John Steffler

2013

Winner
The Barista and I (Insomniac Press: Serotonin/Wayside) by  Andrew Szymanski

shortlisted

The Girls of Piazza d’Amore (Linda Leith Publishing) by  Connie Guzzo-McParland
The Water Here is Never Blue (Viking Canada) by  Shelagh Plunkett

Jury

Brian Brett
Helen Humphreys
David McGimpsey

2012

Winner
All the Voices Cry (Biblioasis) by  Alice Petersen

shortlisted

Pollen (DC Books) by  Tom Abray
Waking in the Tree House (Cormorant Books) by  Michael Lithgow

Jury

Arthur Holden
Olive Senior
Amy Shearn

2011

Winner
The Truth of Houses (Brick Books) by  Ann Scowcroft

shortlisted

A Complete Encyclopedia of Different Types of People (Coach House Books) by  Gabe Foreman
Spat the Dummy (Anvil Press) by  Ed Macdonald

Jury

Anita Lahey
David Manicom
Dorota Kozinska

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