Writers Trust of Canada Literary Prizes. Winners. Current Shortlists.

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.

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

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