Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Announces 2025 Winner and $150,000 Award Recipient (Exclusive)
PEOPLE can exclusively report that Canisia Lubrin was named the winner of the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction at a live event at the Chicago History Museum on Thursday, May 1.
The award recognizes novels, short story collections and graphic novels written by women and non-binary authors published in the United States and Canada. It is the largest English-language literary prize in the world that's awarded to women and non-binary authors.
Lubrin was honored for her work on Code Noir, published by Knopf Canada/Soft Skull Press. She will receive $150,000 and a five-night stay at the Fogo Island Inn in recognition of her accomplishments.
Related: Miranda July and Rachel Kushner Among Carol Shields 2025 Prize Longlist Nominees — See the Full List! (Exclusive)
As the author of books such as Voodoo Hypothesis and The Dyzgraphxst, Lubrin has previously been recognized with the Griffin Poetry Prize, OCM Bocas Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada Rising Stars award, among others. Conde Noir is Lubrin's debut work of fiction.
The jury — made up of jury chair Diana Abu-Jaber, Norma Dunning, Kim Fu, Tessa McWatt and Jeanne Thornton — praised the book in a joint statement shared with PEOPLE.
'Code Noir contains multitudes," their statement said. "Its characters inhabit multi-layered landscapes of the past, present and future, confronting suffering, communion and metamorphosis."
"Canisia Lubrin's prose is polyphonic; the stories invite you to immerse yourself in both the real and the speculative, in the intimate and in sweeping moments of history. Riffing on the Napoleonic decree, Lubrin retunes the legacies of slavery, colonialism and violence," the statement continued. "This is a virtuoso collection that breaks new ground in short fiction."
Related: Miranda July, Sarah Manguso Among 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Shortlist (Exclusive)
Alexandra Skoczylas, CEO of the Carol Shields Prize Foundation, also offered her "warmest congratulations to Canisia Lubrin on her win for Code Noir."
'It is a groundbreaking work of fiction selected from an incredibly strong shortlist," she said.
Related: V. V. Ganeshananthan Named Winner of the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Finalists for the prize included Dominique Fortier and Rhonda Mullins (translator), Miranda July, Sarah Manguso, and Aube Rey Lescure. The four finalists will each receive $12,500.
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The finalists, along with Lubrin, are all invited to participate in a group retreat residency in the Leighton Artist Studios, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
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