logo
Canisia Lubrin and Matthew Walsh among finalists for 2025 Trillium Book Awards

Canisia Lubrin and Matthew Walsh among finalists for 2025 Trillium Book Awards

CBC06-05-2025

Canisia Lubrin and Matthew Walsh are among the finalists for the 2025 Trillium Book Awards presented by Ontario Creates.
Established in 1987, the prize annually recognizes the best book and best poetry collection from writers in Ontario.
The winners in both the English and French categories of the Trillium Book Award will receive $20,000, while the winner of the poetry category will receive $10,000. This year, the category for best book of children's literature in French will also be awarded.
Lubrin is shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Code Noir, which was also shortlisted for the 2024 Atwood Gibson Fiction prize and won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.
The Code Noir, or the Black Code, was a set of 59 articles decreed by Louis XVI in 1685 which regulated ownership of slaves in all French colonies. In Code Noir, Lubrin reflects on these codes to examine the legacy of enslavement and colonization — and the inherent power of Black resistance.
Lubrin is a Canadian writer, editor and academic who was born in St. Lucia and currently based in Whitby, Ont. Her debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was longlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award, the Pat Lowther Award and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. Her poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst won the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. It also won the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for poetry.
Walsh is shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for poetry for Terrarium.
Terrarium is a poetry collection that explores queer identity and depression using a conversational writing style. Raw, confessional and often messy, the voice has a quality of intimacy and shared secrets.
35 books for Pride month by writers in Canada
Walsh is a poet known for their debut book These are not the potatoes of my youth, which was a finalist for the Trillium and Gerald Lampert Awards. Walsh has previously contributed poetry to publications like The Malahat Review and Arc. They are now based in Toronto.
The 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is accepting submissions!
Other notable writers on the shortlists include Maurice Vellekoop and Faith Arkorful.
Vellekoop's I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together is a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, which was also shortlisted for the 2025 Doug Wright Award for best Canadian comic and won the 2024 Toronto Book Award.
I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together depicts his intense childhood and difficult young adulthood as a young gay person in a strict Christian household. Set in Toronto from the 1970s, Vellekoop begins to see his relationships with his mother and father fracture. As he ventures out on his own, he explores his passion for art and is set on finding romance and is met with violent attacks and the anxiety surrounding the AIDS era.
Maurice Vellekoop wins $10K Toronto Book Award for graphic memoir I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together
Vellekoop is a Toronto-born writer and artist. He has been an illustrator for the past three decades, including for companies like Air Canada and Bush Irish Whiskey. He is also the author of A Nut at the Opera.
Arkorful is nominated for the Trillium Book Award for poetry for their debut collection, The Seventh Town of Ghosts.
The Seventh Town of Ghosts explores these titular towns through songs that help readers grapple with the challenges of existence and independence. The book offers insight into the power of connection, tenderness and the human spirit.
Arkorful has had her work published in Guts, Peach Mag, Prism International, Hobart, Without/pretend, The Puritan and Canthius, among others. She was a semi-finalist in the 2019 92Y Discovery Contest. Faith was born in Toronto, where she still resides. In 2020, she was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize.
The full shortlists for the 2025 Trillium Awards are below.
Trillium Book Award:
Wild Houses by Colin Barrett
My Fighting Family: Borders and Bloodlines and the Battles That Made Us by Morgan Campbell
Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin
Who Will Bury You? And Other Stories by Chido Muchemwa
I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together by Maurice Vellekoop
Trillium Book Award for Poetry:
The Seventh Town of Ghosts by Faith Arkorful
DADDY by Jake Byrne
Terrarium by Matthew Walsh
Prix Trillium:
Céline au Congo by Aristote Kavungu
Toronto jamais bleue by Marie-Hélène Larochelle
Le prince africain, le traducteur et le nazi by Didier Leclair
Un lourd prix à payer by Claire Ménard-Roussy
Nickel City Fifs : Une épopée queer sudburoise sur fond de trous by Alex Tétreault
Prix du livre jeunesse Trillium:
Rose du désert by Michèle Laframboise
Le roi Poubelle by Eudes La Roche-Francoeur
Le bonnet magique by Mireille Messier
The winners will be announced on June 18, 2025.
Last year's winners were Nina Dunic for The Clarion and A. Light Zachary for More Sure.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Smirnoff Turns Up the Sound, Spirit, and Celebration at Pride 2025
Smirnoff Turns Up the Sound, Spirit, and Celebration at Pride 2025

Cision Canada

time42 minutes ago

  • Cision Canada

Smirnoff Turns Up the Sound, Spirit, and Celebration at Pride 2025

TORONTO, June 9, 2025 /CNW/ - Smirnoff is turning the volume up on joy, self-expression, and togetherness this Pride season. As Canada's #1 Vodka¹ and a proud gold sponsor of Pride Toronto, Smirnoff is showing up with a celebration that's as bold and vibrant as the 2SLGBTQI+ community itself. "As we continue our journey in celebrating Canada's diversity and creating vibrant feel-good moments, Pride Toronto has been a valued part of our commitment to building meaningful connections and inclusive experiences," says Nadia Niccoli, Head of Marketing at Diageo Canada. "We're honoured to celebrate alongside our partners and the 2SLGBTQI+ community with high energy, music, and unmistakable Smirnoff vibes." This year, Smirnoff's Pride floa t is a moving celebration of music, visibility, and queer joy. Leading the float will be Rêve, Canadian singer-songwriter and Slater Manzo Toronto-based DJ — two 2SLGBTQI+ allies and creative forces who have built a strong presence within the queer community. Together, they'll deliver a soundtrack of unity and celebration as they headline the float through the heart of downtown Toronto. To keep the celebrations going across the city, Smirnoff is turning up the energy with its immersive "Dive into Pride" Ball Pit experience popping up at two of the city's most iconic events — Village Fest from June 20–22 and the Pride Street Fair from June 27–29. Guests can dive into a playful, colourful escape and soak up the Smirnoff vibes with music, fun photo ops and a chance to score exclusive swag and giveaways throughout the experience. Whether you're dancing in the streets or diving into the pit, Smirnoff invites everyone to show up, be loud, and celebrate Pride 2025—just as they are. Because when WE DO WE, we're unstoppable. To learn more about Smirnoff WE DO WE, please visit About Diageo: Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan's, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO). For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

McCARTHY: Did RBC Canadian Open's new venue make the grade?
McCARTHY: Did RBC Canadian Open's new venue make the grade?

National Post

time4 hours ago

  • National Post

McCARTHY: Did RBC Canadian Open's new venue make the grade?

CALEDON, Ont. — A fan with fake abs shaved into his hairy beer belly is flexing for mobile phones as the masses prepare for another well-lubricated rendition of our national anthem. Article content The rowdiest of the Saturday afternoon crowd at TPC Toronto hang and bang on the makeshift hockey boards. The well-heeled are also in the vicinity, but kept safely above the fray in cozy corporate suites. CBS stars Amanda Balionis and Colt Knost are minutes from charging onto the tee in duelling Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers hockey sweaters. Article content Social media teams buzz about, trying to decide which part of the intentional chaos to point their cameras. In the middle of it all, Mackenzie Hughes and caddie Julien Trudeau stand on the tee box having a conversation about the wind. Article content Welcome to the RBC Canadian Open. More specifically, welcome to the Rink Hole. Article content Saw lots of new things at the rink hole this week @RBCCanadianOpen and that includes fake abs shaved into belly hair. — Jon McCarthy (@jonmccarthySUN) June 9, 2025 Article content 'It's a lot of fun. I'm very proud to be Canadian. It's a great country. I'm very proud to be from here. I can feel that pride out there for us and just for people being Canadian,' Hughes said after firing his way into contention during Saturday's third round. 'Yeah, really enjoying it. Like I said, the support's been phenomenal.' Article content The rink hole, now in its seventh iteration, has become a microcosm of the RBC Canadian Open, and of modern professional sports as a whole. Article content In a media and entertainment world fighting for the next viral moment, big events are spending plenty of time, money, and brain power on figuring out how to put all the ingredients together to create perfect bite-sized content that will find its way into your algorithm. Article content 'We're not just a golf tournament, we're a sports and entertainment property,' tournament director Ryan Paul said. 'I know we continue to try to build on the Canadiana of this event and where we can add to that.' Article content In a sea of sameness on the PGA Tour schedule, the RBC Canadian Open is showcasing its differences. Article content We might secretly cringe at listening to the 10th off-key version of O Canada belted out at the Rink Hole or at seeing Mounties used as models for a world audience, but the shame of selling out was strictly a 90s thing. When getting noticed is the end game, it's simply called leaning into your strengths. Article content Looking around TPC Toronto this week, all you see is lots of people having fun, some watching golf, some not. And if you ask around the PGA Tour, the tournament has developed a reputation, both for its vibe, and for punching above its weight as a tournament and a product. Article content 'It's become a very, very good tournament,' two-time champion Rory McIlroy said before missing the cut for the first time in five appearances. 'I think because of that, and you see guys playing each and every year, I think the field then starts to become stronger because you see your peers do something, and we're all like sort of sheep out here. Once one person does something, we all sort of try to do the same thing.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store