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Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, David Young, and the late Margaret Laurence, the Writers' Trust of Canada was incorporated under a federal charter and registered as a national non-profit organization in 1976. A unique charitable organization, the Writers’ Trust provides a level of financial support to writers unmatched by any other non-governmental organization. Through its various initiatives, the Writers’ Trust celebrates and rewards the talents and achievements of Canada’s novelists, short story writers, poets, biographers, and other non-fiction writers.
The Trust oversees a number of literary awards. In addition to those listed below the Trust offers the Writers' Trust Award for Distinguished Contribution and Writers’ Trust Notable Author Award.
2009 Writer's Trust Finalists- Winners Nov 24
2009 Finalists Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Finalists
Nicole Brossard, Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood (translator) Fences in Breathing, Coach House Books
Douglas Coupland, Generation A, Random House Canada
Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean, Random House Canada
Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness, McClelland & Stewart: A Douglas Gibson Book
Andrew Steinmetz, Eva’s Threepenny Theatre, Gaspereau PressMavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction ($2000)
2009 Jurors: David Leahy, Susan Olding, Makeda Silvera
Yves Engler, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, Fernwood Publishing
Patrick McDonagh, Idiocy: A Cultural History, Liverpool University Press
Eric Siblin, The Cello Suites, House of Anansi Press
A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry ($2000)
2009 Jurors: Jeramy Dodds, Yedda Morrison, Fraser Sutherland
Norm Sibum, The Pangborn Defence, Biblioasis
Mike Spry, Jack, Snare Books
Carmine Starnino, This Way Out, Gaspereau Press
McAuslan First Book Prize ($2,000)
2009 Jurors: Wayne Johnston, Stan Persky, Fred Wah
Eric Siblin, The Cello Suites, House of Anansi Press
Gillian Sze, Fish Bones, DC Books
Alice Zorn, Ruins and Relics, NeWest Press
2008 Writers' Trust Prize Winners
Winnipeg writer Miriam Toews received the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for The Flying Troutmans, a comic novel about a young woman and her niece and nephew on a motel-hopping road trip in search of the children’s father.Montreal writer Taras Grescoe won the $25,000 Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize for Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, an account of the global crisis of fisheries and its implications, as well as a practical guide to sustainable consumption.
Four authors received awards for their excellence in literature: Sylvia Fraser,Michael Kusugak,Saleema Nawaz,and MichaelWinter. Additionally, Rogers received an award for its long-standing support of the Writers’ Trust. Seven prizes were awarded with a combined value of $155,000, making the event one of the richest awards nights in Canada. The prize amounts of several awards have increased by up to $10,000 from last year, reaffirming theWriters’ Trust’s commitment to supporting Canadian writers
- Matt Cohen Prize - In Celebration of a Writing Life
- The Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
- The Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize
- The Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature
- The Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize
- Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing
- Timothy Findley Award
THE TIMOTHY FINDLEY AWARD ($15,000)
Sponsored by the Writers’ Trust of Canada.
Awarded to a male writer in mid-career for a body of work.
• Winner: Michael Crummey (St. John’s)
“Death haunts Crummey’s books. But so do love and desire, the human ferment that supplies his work with a
fundamental generosity, a glowing, wistful hopefulness.”
Jury: Joan Barfoot (London, Ontario), Douglas Glover (Gansevoort, New York), and Jack Hodgins (Victoria)
Winners
2007 Michael Crummey
2006 Douglas Glover
2005 Rohinton Mistry
2004 David Adams Richards
2003 Guy Vanderhaeghe
2002 Bill Gaston
Matt Cohen Prize - In Celebration of a Writing Life
Supported by Beatrice Wright
$20,000
Established in 2001 by the Writers' Trust of Canada and a group of anonymous donors, the Matt Cohen Award recognizes a lifetime of distinguished work by a Canadian writer, working in either poetry or prose in either French or English. Valued at $20,000, it is one of the richest literary awards in the country.
Matt Cohen died of cancer in December 1999, at the age of 56. His first novel was published in 1969 and during his writing career he published 34 books, including novels, short stories, poetry and books for children. Cohen also worked on behalf of Canadian writers through his long association with the Writers' Union of Canada. He was a founding member of the Writers’ Union, and served as an executive member for many years.
Winners
2008 Sylvia Fraser
2007 David Helwig
2006 Marie-Claire Blais
2005 Janet Lunn
2004 Howard Engel
2003 Audrey Thomas
2002 Fred Bodsworth
2001 Norman Levine
2000 Mavis Gallant
