The Quebec Writers' Federation Awards are a series of
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
literary awards, presented annually by the
Quebec Writers' Federation
The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) is a not-for-profit registered charitable organization representing and serving the English-language literary community in the province of Quebec, Canada.
QWF is a literary arts presenter, provides profession ...
to the best works of literature in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
by writers from
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
. They were known from 1988 to 1998 as the QSPELL Awards.
Categories
They are currently presented in seven literary categories:
* Paragraphe
Hugh MacLennan
John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award.
Family and childhood
MacLennan was born in Glace Ba ...
Prize for Fiction,
*
Mavis Gallant
Mavis Leslie de Trafford Gallant, , née Young (11 August 1922 – 18 February 2014), was a Canadian writer who spent much of her life and career in France. Best known as a short story writer, she also published novels, plays and essays.
Pe ...
Prize for Non-Fiction
*
A. M. Klein
Abraham Moses Klein (14 February 1909 – 20 August 1972) was a Canadian poet, journalist, novelist, short story writer and lawyer. He has been called "one of Canada's greatest poets and a leading figure in Jewish-Canadian culture."
Best known ...
Prize for Poetry
* Concordia University First Book Prize
* QWF Prize for Children's & Young Adult Literature
* Cole Foundation Prize for Translation (French and English, with target language alternating each year)
* 3Macs ''Carte Blanche'' Prize for the best work published in the QWF's online literary journal ''Carte Blanche''.
A Community Award is also frequently presented to a person who has played a significant role in building and supporting Quebec's anglophone writing community.
The awards have been presented annually since 1988.
Winners by year
1988
* Fiction:
Hugh Hood, ''The Motor Boys in Ottawa''
["Montrealers win English Quebec literary awards". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 5, 1988.
* Non-fiction:
Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a Canadian American architect, professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.
Early life
Rybczynski was born in E ...
, ''Home: A Short History of an Idea''
[
* Poetry: David Solway, ''Modern Marriage''][
]
1989
* Fiction: Kenneth Radu, ''Distant Relations''["Three writers win QSPELL prizes". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 4, 1989.
* Non-fiction: Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a Canadian American architect, professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.
Early life
Rybczynski was born in E ...
, ''The Most Beautiful House in the World''[
* Poetry: ]D. G. Jones
Douglas Gordon "D. G." Jones (January 1, 1929 – March 6, 2016) was a Canadian poet, translator and educator.
Born in Bancroft, Ontario, Jones was educated at the private school of Lakefield College School in Ontario, at McGill University and at ...
, ''Balthazar and Other Poems''[
]
1990
* Fiction: Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel ''St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
, ''Solomon Gursky Was Here
''Solomon Gursky Was Here'' is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published by Viking Canada in 1989.
Summary
The novel tells of several generations of the fictional Gursky family, who are connected to several disparate events i ...
''Mark Abley
Mark Abley (born 13 May 1955) is a Canadian poet, journalist, editor and non-fiction writer. Both his poetry and several non-fiction books express his interest in endangered languages. He has also published numerous magazine articles.
He publish ...
, "Richler wins QSPELL award for epic novel". ''Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 17, 1990.[
* Poetry: Erín Moure, ''WSW (West South West)'' and Bruce Taylor, ''Cold Rubber Feet''][
]
1991
* Fiction: Kenneth Radu, ''A Private Performance''[Bryan Demchinsky, "Kenneth Radu wins MacLennan Prize; Look at suburban family life wins QSPELL's fiction award". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 16, 1991.
* Non-fiction: Donald MacKay, ''Flight from Famine''[
* Poetry: Eric Ormsby, ''Bavarian Shrine and Other Poems''][
]
1992
* Fiction: Ray Smith, ''A Night at the Opera''["Women win two of three QSPELLs: Naomi Guttman takes the poetry award". '' The Globe and Mail'', November 30, 1992.]
* Non-fiction: Mary Meigs
Mary Meigs (April 27, 1917 – November 15, 2002) was an American-born painter and writer.
Early life
Meigs was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Edward Browning Meigs and Margaret Wister Meigs, and grew up in Washington, D.C. Her grea ...
, '' In the Company of Strangers''[
* Poetry: Naomi Guttman, ''Reasons for Winter''][
]
1993
* Fiction: P. Scott Lawrence P. is an abbreviation or acronym that may refer to:
* Page (paper), where the abbreviation comes from Latin ''pagina''
* Paris Herbarium, at the '' Muséum national d'histoire naturelle''
* ''Pani'' (Polish), translating as Mrs.
* The '' Pacific ...
, ''Missing Fred Astaire''[Bryan Demchinsky, "Vehicule Press wins 2 QSPELL awards; Ralph Gustafson, 84, wins poetry prize from writers' group". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 27, 1993.
* Non-fiction: Zhimei Zhang, ''Foxspirit: A Woman in Mao's China''[
* Poetry: ]Ralph Gustafson
Ralph Barker Gustafson, CM (16 August 1909 – 29 May 1995) was a Canadian poet and professor at Bishop's University.
Biography
He was born in Lime Ridge, near Dudswell, Quebec on August 16, 1909. His mother was British, his father, Carl ...
, ''Configurations at Midnight''[
]
1994
* Fiction: Ann Diamond, ''Evil Eye''["Anglophone authors honoured in Quebec". '' The Globe and Mail'', November 16, 1994.]
* Non-fiction: Laura S. Groening, ''E.K. Brown: A Study in Conflict''[
* Poetry: Julie Bruck, ''The Woman Downstairs'' and Raymond Filip, ''Flowers in Magnetic Fields''][
]
1995
* Fiction: George Szanto, ''Friends & Marriages''[Bryan Demchinsky, "Second time lucky for non-fiction writer Foran at QSPELL awards". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 18, 1995.
* Non-fiction: Charles Foran
Charles William Foran (born August 2 1960) is a Canadian writer in Toronto, Ontario.
Life and career
Foran was born in August 1960 in Toronto, Ontario to a Franco-Ontarian mother and a father from an Ottawa Irish family. He attended Catholi ...
, ''The Last House of Ulster: A Family in Belfast''[
* Poetry: ]D. G. Jones
Douglas Gordon "D. G." Jones (January 1, 1929 – March 6, 2016) was a Canadian poet, translator and educator.
Born in Bancroft, Ontario, Jones was educated at the private school of Lakefield College School in Ontario, at McGill University and at ...
, ''The Floating Garden''[
* Community: Judith Mappin][
]
1996
* Fiction: Trevor Ferguson, ''The Time Keeper''
* Non-fiction: T. F. Rigelhof, ''A Blue Boy in a Black Dress: A Memoir''
* Poetry: Anne Carson
Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor.
Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ...
, ''Glass, Irony and God''
* First Book: Blema Steinberg, ''Shame and Humiliation: Presidential Decision Making on Vietnam''
* Community: Bryan Demchinsky
Bryan may refer to:
Places United States
* Bryan, Arkansas
* Bryan, Kentucky
* Bryan, Ohio
* Bryan, Texas
* Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming
* Bryan Township (disambiguation)
Facilities and struc ...
1997
* Fiction: Charles Foran
Charles William Foran (born August 2 1960) is a Canadian writer in Toronto, Ontario.
Life and career
Foran was born in August 1960 in Toronto, Ontario to a Franco-Ontarian mother and a father from an Ottawa Irish family. He attended Catholi ...
, ''Butterfly Lovers''[Ray Conlogue, "Quebec honours anglo writers: Charles Foran, William Weintraub snag top QSPELL prizes". '' The Globe and Mail'', December 6, 1997.]
* Non-fiction: William Weintraub, ''City Unique: Montreal Days and Nights in the 40s and 50s''[
* Poetry: ]Ralph Gustafson
Ralph Barker Gustafson, CM (16 August 1909 – 29 May 1995) was a Canadian poet and professor at Bishop's University.
Biography
He was born in Lime Ridge, near Dudswell, Quebec on August 16, 1909. His mother was British, his father, Carl ...
, ''Visions Fugitive''[
* First Book: ]Irene Burstyn
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United States ...
, ''Picking Up Pearls''[
* Community: ]Shelley Pomerance
Shelley most often refers to:
* Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), a major English Romantic poet and husband of Mary Shelley
* Mary Shelley (1797–1851), an English novelist and the wife of Percy Shelley
* Shelley (name), a given name and a sur ...
[
]
1998
*Fiction: Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel ''St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
, '' Barney's Version''["Barney bags another prize for Richler". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', December 4, 1998.
*Non-fiction: David Manicom
David Alton Manicom (born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian diplomat, civil servant, poet and novelist.
Biography
Manicom was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, and lived there until he attended the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal. He ...
, ''Progeny of Ghosts: Travels in Russia and the Old Empire''[
*Poetry: ]Anne Carson
Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor.
Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ...
, '' Autobiography of Red''[
*First Book: Matthew Friedman, ''Fuzzy Logic: Dispatches from the Information Revolution''][
*Translation: Hélène Rioux, ''Self'' (]Yann Martel
Yann Martel, (born 25 June 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spen ...
)[
*Community: ]Simon Dardick
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
and Nancy Marrelli
Nancy may refer to:
Places France
* Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine
** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...
[
]
1999
*Fiction: Elyse Gasco, ''Can You Wave Bye-Bye, Baby?''[Bryan Demchinsky, "Book-end prizes for Bye Bye: Doubting author Gasco scores double honours". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 30, 1999.
*Non-fiction: Elaine Kalman Naves
Elaine Kalman Naves (born 1947) is a Hungarian-born Canadian writer, journalist, editor and lecturer from Quebec.
She has twice won the Quebec Writers' Federation Awards Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, in 1999 for ''Putting Down Roots'' ...
, ''Putting Down Roots''[
*Poetry: Bruce Taylor, ''Facts''][
*First Book: Elyse Gasco, ''Can You Wave Bye-Bye, Baby?''][
*Translation: Sheila Fischman, ''These Festive Nights'' (]Marie-Claire Blais
Marie-Claire Blais (5 October 1939 – 30 November 2021) was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Québec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, newsp ...
)[
*Community: ]Mireille Goulet
Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' " ...
[
]
2000
*Fiction: Julie Keith
Julie Houghton Keith is an American- Canadian writer, best known for her short-story collections ''The Jaguar Temple'' and ''The Devil Out There''.
Background
She was born and brought up near Chicago,"The Giller v. the G-Gs: a tale of two liter ...
, ''The Devil Out There''["Grescoe a double-winner at Quebec writers' awards: Distinct-society analysis gets two English-language book prizes". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', December 1, 2000.
*Non-fiction: Taras Grescoe, ''Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec''[
*Poetry: Rachel Rose, ''Giving My Body to Science''][
*First Book: Taras Grescoe, ''Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec''][
*Translation: ]Claire Dé
Claire Dé is the pen name of Claire Dandurand (born November 19, 1953), a Canadian writer from Quebec.W. H. New, ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada''. University of Toronto Press, 2002. . p. 281.
The twin sister of writer Anne Dandurand, she ...
, ''Montréal barbare'' (Robert Majzels
Robert Majzels (born May 12, 1950) is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.
Life
Majzels was born in Montreal, Quebec. In 1986, he graduated with a master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, whe ...
)[
*Community: ]Patricia Pleszcynska
Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United S ...
[
]
2001
*Fiction: Yann Martel
Yann Martel, (born 25 June 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spen ...
, ''Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He ...
''
*Non-fiction: Jack Todd, ''A Taste of Metal: A Deserter's Story''
*Poetry: Anne Carson
Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor.
Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ...
, ''The Beauty of the Husband''
*First Book: Jack Todd, ''A Taste of Metal: A Deserter's Story''
*Translation: Phyllis Aronoff
Phyllis Aronoff is a Canadian literary translator. She is most noted as co-winner with Howard Scott of the Governor General's Award for French to English translation at the 2018 Governor General's Awards for ''Descent Into Night'', their translati ...
and Howard Scott
Howard Scott (April 1, 1890 – January 1, 1970) was an American engineer and founder of the Technocracy movement. He formed the Technical Alliance and Technocracy Incorporated.
Early life
Little is known about Scott's background or his early li ...
, ''The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701: French-Native Diplomacy in the Seventeenth Century'' ( Gilles Havard)
*Community: Germain Lefebvre
Germain may refer to:
* Germain (name), including a list of people with the name
* Germain Arena, the former name of an arena in Estero, Florida
* Germain Racing, a NASCAR racing team
* Germain Amphitheater, a concert venue in Columbus, Ohio
* Par ...
2002
*Fiction: Neil Bissoondath
Neil Devindra Bissoondath (born April 19, 1955, in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Trinidadian-Canadian author who lives in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He is a noted writer of fiction. He is an outspoken critic of Canada's system of multicultur ...
, ''Doing the Heart Good''
*Non-fiction: Henry T. Aubin
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portuga ...
, ''The Rescue of Jerusalem''
*Poetry: Norm Sibum
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
, ''Girls and Handsome Dogs''
*First Book: Nalini Warriar, ''Blues from the Malabar Coast''
*Translation: Pan Bouyoucas, ''Dans l'ombre de Maggie'' (Sheila Arnopoulos
Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, meani ...
)
*Community: Linda Shohet
Linda may refer to:
As a name
* Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named)
* Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer
* Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...
2003
* Fiction: David Homel
David Homel (born 1952) is an American-Canadian writer and literary translator.Ian McGillis"Montreal's David Homel counsels self-forgiveness in new memoir" ''Montreal Gazette'', April 23, 2021. He is most noted as a two-time winner of the Governo ...
, ''The Speaking Cure''[Pat Donnelly, "Homel's novel wins at writers' gala". '']Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', November 27, 2003.
* Non-fiction: Elaine Kalman Naves
Elaine Kalman Naves (born 1947) is a Hungarian-born Canadian writer, journalist, editor and lecturer from Quebec.
She has twice won the Quebec Writers' Federation Awards Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, in 1999 for ''Putting Down Roots'' ...
, ''Shoshanna's Story''[
* Poetry: Susan Gillis, ''Volta''][
* First Book: ]Neale McDevitt Neale may refer to:
* Neale (surname)
* Neale, County Mayo
* Neale (electric car)
See also
* Neil, containing Neale as a given name
{{disambig