CBC literary award winners revealed
CBC Arts | Posted: March 18, 2010 4:10 PM | Last Updated: March 18, 2010
Winners of the 2009 CBC Literary Awards have been announced, with six winners each for previously unpublished English and French works.
First-place writers receive $6,000 while second-place finishers get $4,000.
First- and second-place victors were chosen in the categories of creative non-fiction, poetry and short story. The competition had received more than 6,000 entries from across Canada, whittled down to shortlists of about 80.
The winners were announced Thursday morning.
Toronto author and broadcaster Marian Botsford Fraser — whose acclaimed works include Solitaire and Requiem for My Brother — captured the top spot in the English creative non-fiction category with The Rise.
The jury described Fraser's work as "skilfully crafted prose, reminiscent of Alice Munro." The Rise concerns a married woman whose passions are fired up by a man twice her age.
Second prize, behind Fraser, went to Sarah de Leeuw of Prince George, B.C., for her story Quick-quick. Slow. Slow., about a community in decline.
English Poetry:
- First prize: Us unclean, by Michael Langton of Vancouver.
- Second prize: Arguments with the Lake, Tanis Rideout of Kingston, Ont.
English Short Story:
- First prize: Badger, Donald Ward of Saskatoon.
- Second prize: Down to the Roots, Elissa Vann Struth, Vancouver.
The French-language winners are:
Creative Non-fiction:
- First prize: Flo, Stéphane Bigras, Saint-Colomban, Que.
- Second prize: Au Fond, Sylvie Mayrand, Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu, Que.
Poetry:
- First prize: était une bête, Laurance Ouellet Tremblay, Montreal.
- Second prize: 24/7, Mathieu Croisetièr, Trois-Rivières, Que.
Short Story:
- First prize: Magnum opus, Philippe Chartier, Montreal.
- Second prize: Un hombre solo, Jérémie Leduc-Leblanc, Montreal.
The annual awards honour excellence in unpublished work submitted by emerging and professional writers. The works will be published in Air Canada's enRoute magazine.