Kris Bertin has won the $10,000 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for his debut short story collection Bad Things Happen. The prize, which is administered by the Writers' Union of Canada, recognizes the best first short story collection written by a Canadian author.

The stories in Bad Things Happen "are tough and bloodied and pure," the jury, which was comprised of Caroline Adderson, Judy Fong Bates and David Bergen, said in a statement. "Bertin knows place and he knows language and he knows his characters — the garbage collectors, the overweight landlords, the petty thieves. And then, oh my, there are the children. What a beautiful book."

Bertin, who is based in Halifax, N.S., was named a CBC Books writer to watch in 2016.

The 2017 runners up for were Kerry Lee Powell for Willem de Kooning's Paintbrush and Laura Trunkey for Double Dutch. They both will receive $500.

The remaining finalists were Lyse Champagne for The Light that Remains and André Narbonne for Tweve Miles to Midnight.

Heather O'Neill won the prize in 2016 for Daydreams of Angels.

Other past winners include Pasha Malla and Charlotte Gill.