Nova Scotia-based writer Kris Bertin has won the short fiction category of the 2017 ReLit Awards for his collection Bad Things Happen.

The ReLit Awards annually celebrate Canadian books published by independent presses in three categories: short fiction, novel and poetry.

Bad Things Happen, published by Biblioasis, previously won the 2017 Danuta Gleed Award and is Bertin's first collection of short fiction. He is also the author of the graphic novel The Case of the Missing Men, illustrated by Alexander Forbes.

Singer-songwriter Kyp Harness was the winner of the novel category for Wigford Rememberies, published by Nightwood Editions. The book features an idiosyncratic cast of characters living in a small town in southwestern Ontario.

Katherine Leyton won the poetry category for her debut collection, All the Gold Hurts My Mouth, published by Goose Lane. The book challenges the male gaze and explores sexual politics of modern-day life.

Each of the winners will receive a ReLit Ring, designed by Newfoundlander Chris Kearney. The ring is composed of four moveable dials with letters of the alphabet inscribed on them.