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.

2023 submissions closed

Sponsored by Concordia University

The 2023 lists of book submissions have been published. The shortlist will be announced in October.

Winners archive

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2022

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner

the half-drowned (Metatron Press) by  Trynne Delaney

shortlisted

We Have Never Lived On Earth (University of Alberta Press) by  Kasia Van Schaik

Jury

Kess Mohammadi
Emily Raine
Hal Wake

2021

Sponsored by Concordia University

Winner

Fighting for a Hand to Hold: Confronting Medical Colonialism Against Indigenous Children in Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by  Samir Shaheen-Hussain

shortlisted

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
We, Jane (Book*hug Press) by  Aimee Wall

Jury

Nilambri Ghai
Seyward Goodhand
Shannon Webb-Campbell

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  Jas M. Morgan

shortlisted

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

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

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

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