From\u00a0Canada Reads<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Governor General’s Literary Awards<\/a>, these are the authors who\u00a0won some of Canada’s biggest literary prizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | The 2024 CBC Books\u00a0Labour Day Special, hosted by Ali Hassan:\u00a0<\/p>\n CBC Books2025 CBC Books Labour Day Special<\/p>\n \u00a0A Two-Spirit Journey<\/a>, championed by Shayla Stonechild,\u00a0won\u00a0Canada Reads<\/a>\u00a02025.\u00a0<\/p>\n In\u00a0A Two-Spirit Journey<\/a>,\u00a0Ma-Nee Chacaby, an\u00a0Ojibwa-Cree lesbian who grew up in a remote northern Ontario community, tells the story of how she\u00a0overcame experiences with abuse and alcohol addiction to become a counsellor and lead Thunder Bay’s first gay pride parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chacaby\u00a0is a two-spirit\u00a0Ojibwa-Cree writer, artist, storyteller and\u00a0activist. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ont., and was raised by her grandmother\u00a0near Lake Nipigon, Ont.\u00a0Chacaby\u00a0won the\u00a0Ontario Historical Society’s Alison Prentice Award and the Oral History Association’s Book Award for\u00a0A Two-Spirit Journey<\/a>. In 2021, Chacaby won the\u00a0Community Hero Award from the mayor of Thunder Bay.<\/p>\n Her co-writer and close friend, Mary Louisa Plummer,\u00a0is a social scientist whose work focuses on public health and children’s\u00a0rights. She collaborated with Chacaby, who only learned English later in life and is visually impaired, to tell Chacaby’s story in the most authentic possible way, drawing on academic research about Indigenous storytelling and years of friendship and mutual trust.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Shayla Stonechild and Ma-Nee Chacaby on\u00a0The Next Chapter:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Next ChapterShayla Stonechild shares an Ojibwa-Cree elder’s message of hope and healing with Canada Reads<\/p>\n Empty Spaces<\/a>\u00a0won the\u00a02024 Governor General’s Literary Award\u00a0for fiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n Empty Spaces<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a reimagining of James Fenimore Cooper’s 19th-century text\u00a0The Last of the Mohicans\u00a0from a modern urban perspective. Abel explores what it means to be Indigenous without access to familial territory and complicates popular understandings about Indigenous storytelling.<\/p>\n Abel is a Nisga’a writer from British Columbia. He is also the author of the poetry collections\u00a0The Place of Scraps<\/a>,\u00a0Un\/inhabited<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Injun<\/a>. In 2017, he\u00a0won the Griffin Poetry Prize<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Injun<\/a>.\u00a0Empty Spaces<\/a>\u00a0was also nominated for the 2024 Amazon First Novel Award.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Jordan Abel on his\u00a0debut novel\u00a0Empty Spaces:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Next ChapterJordan Abel\u2019s debut novel Empty Spaces is a trippy, genre-bending subversion of The Last of the Mohicans<\/p>\n Scientific Marvel<\/a>\u00a0won the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scientific Marvel<\/a>\u00a0is a poetry collection that looks into the history of and current life in Winnipeg. With humour and surprise, it delves into deeper themes of racism, queerness and colonialism while keeping personal lived experiences close to the page.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chimwemwe Undi is a Winnipeg-based poet, editor and lawyer. She is the current parliamentary poet laureate<\/a> and was the\u00a0Winnipeg poet laureate for 2023 and 2024. Undi was\u00a0longlisted for the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize<\/a>. She won the 2022 John Hirsch Emerging Writer Award from the Manitoba Book Awards and her work can be found in Brick, Border Crossings, Canadian Literature and BBC World, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | The Poetry of Why: Chimwemwe Undi:\u00a0<\/p>\n IdeasThe Poetry of Why: Chimwemwe Undi<\/p>\n W\u00eenip\u00eak<\/a>\u00a0won the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for nonfiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n W\u00eenip\u00eak: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre<\/a>\u00a0is the story of Winnipeg, told in a series of essays through the lens of Indigenous resilience and reconciliation.<\/p>\n From the Indian Act and atrocities of colonialism to the creativity and ferocity of the Indigenous peoples preserving their heritage, Niigaan Sinclair illustrates the way a place \u2014 how we love, lose\u00a0and fight for it \u2014 can help pave the way for the future of an entire country.<\/p>\n Sinclair is an Anishinaabe (St. Peter’s\/Little Peguis) thinker and assistant professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He has written for\u00a0The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama, The Guardian and\u00a0CBC Books<\/a>\u00a0and is a regular contributor on APTN, CTV and CBC News. Sinclair is also the editor of The Debwe Series and the author and co-editor of award-winning\u00a0Manitowapow<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Centering\u00a0Anishinaabeg Studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Niigaan Sinclair on\u00a0The Sunday Magazine:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Sunday MagazineWhat does consultation with Indigenous communities really mean?<\/p>\n Crash Landing<\/a>\u00a0won\u00a0the\u00a02024 Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature \u2014 text<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the summer of 2010, Jay Wong is desperate to make some worthy memories before her senior year comes to close, whether that be landing a kickflip or meeting someone new. Enter Ash Chan with a skateboard, a secret and a competition they need Jay’s help filming a submission for.\u00a0Crash Landing<\/a>\u00a0tells Jay’s story as she navigates her immigrant community in Vancouver and a newfound friendship that’s becoming something more.<\/p>\n Li Charmaine Anne is a writer with a BFA from the University of British Columbia in creative writing and English literature.\u00a0Crash Landing<\/a>\u00a0is their debut novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Li Charmaine Anne\u00a0on\u00a0North by Northwest:\u00a0<\/p>\n North by NorthwestBookstore Love Notes on Canadian Independent Bookstore Day<\/p>\n Skating Wild on an Inland Sea<\/a> won the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature \u2014 illustrated books<\/a> and the\u00a02024\u00a0TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n Skating Wild on an Inland Sea<\/a>\u00a0is about two children discovering the magic of skating on wild ice.<\/p>\n Jean E. Pendziwol lives in Northwestern Ontario and is the author of eight children’s books including\u00a0When I Listen to Silence<\/a>, illustrated by Carmen Mok;\u00a0I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree<\/a>, illustrated by Nathalie Dion;\u00a0and\u00a0Once Upon a Northern Night<\/a>, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.\u00a0<\/p>\n Todd Stewart is a Montreal-based illustrator and printmaker. His picture book\u00a0The Wind in the Trees<\/a>\u00a0(Quand le vent souffle), was a nominated\u00a0for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Jean E. Pendziwol on Superior Morning:\u00a0<\/p>\n Superior MorningJean E. Pendziwol: 2024 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award<\/p>\n There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death,\u00a0or the Born-Again Crow<\/a>\u00a0won the\u00a02024\u00a0Governor General’s Literary Award for drama<\/a>.<\/p>\n There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death,\u00a0or the Born-Again Crow<\/a>\u00a0is a play that tells the story of Beth, a grocery store clerk who recently lost her job. Just when she’s beginning to spiral, she becomes friends with a talking crow and reconnects with her true power.<\/p>\n Caleigh Crow is a queer\u00a0M\u00e9tis theatre artist from northeast Calgary. She is the co-founder and artistic lead of Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre.<\/p>\n Nights Too Short to Dance<\/a>\u00a0won the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for French to English translation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ren\u00e9\u00a0is finally feeling his age in the novel\u00a0Nights Too Short to Dance<\/a>. He wants nothing more but to continue to dress elegantly and be independent but those days are long gone.\u00a0Ren\u00e9 is visited by old friends and together they\u00a0reminisce\u00a0about everything from past loves to\u00a0tragedies and fights. The old friends find comfort and hope in each other’s presence as they fight to live on their own terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marie-Claire Blais was often lauded as one of Quebec’s greatest writers.\u00a0Her last novel was\u00a0The Acacia Gardens. She was the winner of numerous awards including\u00a0the M\u00e9dicis Prize, the W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize, four Governor General’s Literary Awards\u00a0and two Guggenheim Fellowships. She died in 2021.<\/p>\n Katia Grubisic\u00a0is a writer, editor\u00a0and translator.\u00a0She has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for translation and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Her collection of poems\u00a0What if red ran out\u00a0won the Gerald Lampert award for best first book.<\/p>\n Subterrane<\/a>\u00a0won the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Subterrane<\/a>, a documentary filmmaker named Zeynab is working on a project about\u00a0Cipher Falls, the last affordable area on the margins of New Stockholm, a major North American metropolis. Cipher Falls is a polluted, industrial wasteland where artists and anti-capitalists are forced to work dead-end jobs to survive.<\/p>\n Val\u00e9rie Bah is an artist, filmmaker, documentarian, photographer and writer. Their collection\u00a0The Rage Letters\u00a0was translated from French by Kama La Mackerel.\u00a0Subterrane<\/a>\u00a0is their first novel in English.\u00a0<\/p>\n Batshit Seven<\/a>\u00a0won the 2024 Writers’ Trust Fiction prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Batshit Seven<\/a>, Glen “Glue” Wu has a general apathy toward his return to Hong Kong from Toronto. As a lacklustre, weed smoking, hungover ESL teacher, Glue watches passively as Hong Kong falls into conflict around him. He cares only for his sister, who is trying to marry rich, and for both an on-and-off-again relationship and the memory of a Canadian connection now lost. Government control hardens, thrusting Glue into a journey that ultimately ends in violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sheung-King’s first novel,\u00a0You Are Eating an Orange. You are Naked.<\/a>,\u00a0was a finalist for multiple awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. It was also longlisted for\u00a0Canada Reads<\/a>\u00a02021. Sheung-King splits his time between Canada and China.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Sheung-King\u00a0on\u00a0The Next Chapter:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Next ChapterWriters’ Trust Fiction prize winner Sheung-King\u2019s latest novel is an unexpected ode to modern life in Hong Kong<\/p>\n There Is No Blue<\/a>\u00a0won the 2024\u00a0Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Award for Nonfiction<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In\u00a0There Is No Blue<\/a>, the Martha Baillie\u00a0writes three essays about significant losses she experienced. It’s a response to the death of her mother, father and sister along with\u00a0ruminations on what made them so alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Baillie’s novel\u00a0The Incident Report\u00a0was on the 2009 Giller Prize longlist and was adapted into a feature film called\u00a0Darkest Miriam. Her other books include\u00a0Sister Language\u00a0and\u00a0The Search for Heinrich Schl\u00f6gel.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Martha Baillie\u00a0on\u00a0IDEAS:\u00a0<\/p>\n IdeasWhat it means to call your loved one a \u2018corpse\u2019<\/p>\n Held<\/a>\u00a0won the\u00a02024 Giller Prize<\/a>\u00a0and was on the shortlist for the\u00a02024 Booker Prize<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Weaving in historical figures and events, the mysterious, generations-spanning novel\u00a0Held<\/a>\u00a0begins on a First World War battlefield near the River Aisne in 1917, where John lies in the falling snow, unable to move or feel his legs. It jumps in time and place to explore a fragmented picture of war and those who feel its reverberations.<\/p>\n Anne Michaels\u00a0is the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Trillium Book Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has been shortlisted for the\u00a0Governor General’s Literary Award<\/a>, the Griffin Poetry Prize and the\u00a0Giller Prize.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Anne Michaels\u00a0on Q:\u00a0<\/p>\n Anne Michaels: Held, how she knows she\u2019s finished writing a book, and the unexpected reason she\u2019s so private<\/p>\n Dorian McNamara\u00a0won the 2025\u00a0CBC Short Story Prize<\/a>\u00a0for his story\u00a0You (Streetcar at Night)<\/a>.\u00a0You (Streetcar at Night)<\/a>\u00a0tells the story of a person riding the streetcar and wondering whether people from their past will recognize them now that they’ve come out as a trans man.<\/p>\n McNamara is a queer transgender writer currently living in Halifax. Originally from Toronto, he graduated with a BA in psychology from Dalhousie University. He is currently working on his first novel as well as publishing the creative newsletter\u00a0Dear You.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you’re interested in writing fiction, the 2026\u00a0CBC Short Story Prize<\/a>\u00a0will be accepting submissions between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1. You can submit your original, unpublished short fiction for a chance to win\u00a0$6,000 from the\u00a0Canada Council for the Arts<\/a>, a two-week writing residency at\u00a0Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity<\/a>\u00a0and have your story published on\u00a0CBC Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Dorian McNamara on\u00a0Bookends with Mattea Roach:\u00a0<\/p>\n Bookends with Mattea RoachMeet the winner of the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize<\/p>\n Rachel Robb\u00a0won the 2024\u00a0CBC Poetry Prize<\/a>\u00a0for her poem\u00a0Palimpsest County<\/a>.\u00a0Palimpsest County<\/a> explores what reconciliation means to non-Indigenous people.<\/p>\n Robb is a Toronto-based writer and educator of Jamaican, Irish and Canadian heritage. Her poetry has been featured as a finalist in the Bridport Prize anthology and shortlisted for The Fiddlehead’s Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize, The Alpine Fellowship and most recently, the Montreal International Poetry Prize.<\/p>\n Her work has also appeared in anthologies for Hamilton’s gritLit Festival and The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story, where she placed first and second, respectively.\u00a0A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, she is currently working on her first collection of poetry.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Rachel Robb\u00a0on\u00a0Bookends with Mattea Roach:\u00a0<\/p>\n Bookends with Mattea RoachRachel Robb: Exploring reconciliation and the natural world<\/p>\n Aldona Dziedziejko\u00a0won the 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Ice Safety Chart: Fragments<\/a>, an essay about moving from a metropolis to a remote fishing village.<\/p>\n Dziedziejko recently left her post as a guest and teacher in a Northern Canadian hamlet in the Tlicho region of the Dene. She has lived on Canada’s West Coast, and before that, on the northern coast of Poland. She is now based in Clearwater Country, Alta.,\u00a0and delights in spotting wild horses and being a mom. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in CV2, subTerrain, The Capilano Review, Fiction Southeast, PRISM international and the Globe and Mail. She recently won the Room magazine’s Short Forms Contest and the Arc Poetry magazine’s Award of Awesomeness.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | Aldona Dziedziejko\u00a0on\u00a0Bookends with Mattea Roach:\u00a0<\/p>\n Bookends with Mattea RoachAldona Dziedziejko: Poetic reflections on land and loss wins 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you like to pick your next reads from among recent literary prize winners, you’re in luck. CBC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[353,49,48,75],"class_list":["post-111444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a-two-spirit-journey-by-ma-nee-chacaby-with-mary-louisa-plummer.jpg\")
Ma-Nee Chacaby, left, recounts her life and the hardships she faced throughout in her autobiography, A Two-Spirit Journey, written with Mary Louisa Plummer. (Ruth-Kivilahti\/University of Manitoba Press\/Yasmin Kudrati-Plummer)<\/p>\n![\"Empty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/empty-spaces-by-jordan-abel.png\")
Empty Spaces is a novel by Jordan Abel. (McClelland & Stewart, Sweetmoon Photography)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/scientific-marvel-by-chimwemwe-undi.jpg\")
Scientific Marvel is a poetry book by Chimwemwe Undi. (House of Anansi Press, Imalka Nilmalgoda)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/winipek-by-niigaan-sinclair.png\")
W\u00eenip\u00eak is a book by Niigaan Sinclair. (McClelland & Stewart, University of Manitoba)<\/p>\n![\"Crash](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/crash-landing-by-li-charmaine-anne.jpg\")
Crash Landing is a YA novel by Li Charmaine Anne. (Annick Press, Edward Chang)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/skating-wild-on-an-inland-sea-by-jean-e-pendziwol-illustrated-by-todd-stewart.jpg\")
Skating Wild on an Inland Sea is a book by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Todd Stewart. (Groudwood Books, Owlkids)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/there-is-violence-and-there-is-righteous-violence-and-there-is-death-or-the-born-again-crow-by-calei.jpeg\")
There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow is a play by Caleigh Crow. (Kelly Osgood, Playwrights Canada Press)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nights-too-short-to-dance-by-marie-claire-blais-translated-by-katia-grubisic.png\"){kind=spacer}
Nights Too Short to Dance is a novel by Marie-Claire Blais, left, and translated by Katia Grubisic. (Second Story Press)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/subterrane-by-valerie-bah.jpg\")
Subterrane is a novel by Val\u00e9rie Bah. (Rafael Alexandre, V\u00e9hicule Press)<\/p>\n![\"Batsh*t](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/batsh-t-seven-by-sheung-king.jpg\")
Sheung-King is the pen name of author Aaron Tang. His latest book follows a millennial living in Hong Kong, as he struggles to make sense of his identity and beliefs. (Penguin Canada, Maari Sugawara)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/there-is-no-blue-by-martha-baillie.jpg\")
There Is No Blue By Martha Baillie (Coach House Books\/Jonno Lightstone)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/held-by-anne-michaels.png\")
Held is a novel by Anne Michaels. (McClelland & Stewart, Marzena Pogorzaly)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dorian-mcnamara.jpg\")
Dorian McNamara is a writer who was born and raised in Toronto, but now lives in Halifax. (Submitted by Dorian McNamara)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rachel-robb.jpg\")
Rachel Robb is the winner of the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize for her poem Palimpsest County. (Submitted by Rachel Robb)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/aldona-dziedziejko.jpg\")
Aldona Dziedziejko is the winner of the 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize for her essay Ice Safety Chart: Fragments. (Submitted by Aldona Dziedziejko)<\/p>\n