JURY ANNOUNCED and CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ISSUED FOR THE 20TH ANNUAL DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD
The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Gleed family are pleased to announce the jury for the $10,000 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, Canada’s pre-eminent award for the best first Canadian collection of short fiction in the English language, now celebrating its 20th year.
This year’s jury comprises authors Caroline Adderson, Judy Fong Bates, and David Bergen.
A short list will be announced in early May 2017, with the winner and two finalists being named in June 2017, in conjunction with OnWords 2017 & The Writers’ Union of Canada’s Annual General Meeting. The winner receives $10,000 and each of the two finalists is awarded $500.
To be eligible, books must be first collections of short fiction written by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and published in Canada in the English language in the 2016 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2017. Eligible titles may be submitted by publishers according to submission guidelines available at www.writersunion.ca/danuta-gleed-literary-award.
ABOUT THE JURY
Caroline Adderson is the author of four novels (A History of Forgetting, Sitting Practice, The Sky Is Falling, Ellen in Pieces), two collections of short stories (Bad Imaginings, Pleased To Meet You) as well as books for young readers. She is also the editor of and co-contributor to Vancouver Vanishes. Her work has received numerous prize nominations including The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, two Commonwealth Writers' Prizes, the Scotiabank Giller Prize long list, the Governor General's Literary Award, and the Rogers' Trust Fiction Prize. Winner of two Ethel Wilson Fiction Prizes and three CBC Literary Awards, Caroline was the recipient of the 2006 Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement.
Judy Fong Bates is the author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection, China Dog and Other Stories, and the novel, Midnight at the Dragon Café, which was an American Library Association Notable Book and a winner of the Alex Award for crossover fiction. In 2007, it was chosen by Portland, Oregon for its Everybody Reads program, and in 2011 by Toronto for its One Book Community Read. Her latest work, The Year of Finding Memory, a family memoir, was a Globe and Mail Best 100 Book.
David Bergen is the author of nine novels and a collection of short stories. A Year of Lesser was a New York Times Notable Book, The Case of Lena S. was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, and The Age of Hope was a finalist for Canada Reads. In 2005, Bergen won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for The Time in Between. His sixth novel, The Matter with Morris, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2010, won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His most recent novel, Stranger, was published in September.
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Danuta Gleed Literary Award was created as a celebration of the life of Danuta Gleed, a writer whose short fiction won several awards before her death in 1996. Danuta Gleed’s first collection of short fiction, One of the Chosen, was posthumously published by BuschekBooks. The Award is made possible through a generous donation from John Gleed in memory of his late wife, and is administered by The Writers’ Union of Canada.
The Award was first given in 1998 for books published in 1997. The 2017 awards ceremony, for books published in 2016, will mark the 20th anniversary of the prize.
ABOUT THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA
The Writers' Union of Canada is our country's national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well-being of all writers.
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For additional information
Siobhan O’Connor, Associate Director
The Writers’ Union of Canada
416-703-8982 x 222 or
soconnor@writersunion.ca
