The Writers’ Union of Canada and John Gleed 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 16th year.
This year’s jury is comprised of authors Bill Gaston, Alexander MacLeod, and Carol Malyon.
A short list will be announced in early May 2013, with the winner and two finalists being named in late May 2013, in conjunction with 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 2012 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2013. Eligible titles may be submitted by publishers according to submission guidelines available at http://www.writersunion.ca/danuta-gleed
ABOUT THE JURY
Bill Gaston is a Canadian novelist, playwright and short story writer. Gaston grew up in Winnipeg, Toronto, and North Vancouver. His works have been nominated for the Giller Prize, the Ethel Wilson Award, and the Governor General’s Award. He has been the recipient of the Relit Award, the Victoria Book Prize, the Canadian Literary Award, the National Magazine Award, and the Timothy Findley Award. He lives in Victoria, B.C., where he teaches at the University of Victoria.
Alexander MacLeod was born in Inverness, Cape Breton, and raised in Windsor, Ontario. His bestselling fiction debut (Light Lifting, Biblioasis 2010) won the Margaret and John Save First Book Award. It was shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Thomas Raddall Award, the Frank O'Connor Award, and the Commonwealth Prize. Alexander holds degrees from the University of Windsor, the University of Notre Dame, and McGill University; he currently lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and teaches at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Carol Malyon’s first short story collection, The Edge of the World was short-listed for the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book of Fiction, and her novel If I Knew I'd Tell You was short-listed for the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Her latest book Griddle Talk, co-written with bill bissett, consists of 52 breakfast conversations at the Golden Griddle where they discuss “love and life and anything else you want.” She recently edited an anthology on creativity, Imagination in Action, containing articles by artists who create in more than one discipline. She has written novels, short story collections, books of poetry, and a children’s picture book. She has been writer in residence at University of New Brunswick, led fiction workshops in the Maritimes and North Bay, and owned a bookstore (Beaches Book Shop).
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 2013 awards ceremony, for books published in 2012, will mark the 16th 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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