Winners For The 25th Trillium Book Award Announced

Four Ontario Authors Receive Province's Top Literary Award

TORONTO, June 20, 2012 /CNW/ -

NEWS

Winners of Ontario's foremost prize for literary excellence, the Trillium Book Award, were announced this evening.

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Michael Chan, presented the awards at a dinner hosted by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). Several previous winners were in attendance to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Award and to acknowledge this year's winners.

• This year's winner for the Trillium Book Award in English-language is:

• The winner for the Trillium Book Award in French-language is:

• This year's English-language winner for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry is:               

• The winner for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry  in French-language is:

As part of the Trillium 25^th Anniversary celebrations, Open Book ran a public contest to select the favourite French and English titles from the previous 24 years' winners.  A celebrity critics' panel selected (Title, author, publisher) in the English language category as their overall favourite from the public's top voted titles, while a panel of students from The Toronto French School selected (Title, author, publisher) in the French language category as their top pick.

QUOTES

"The Trillium Book Award is an opportunity to celebrate and honour Ontario's literary talent. The McGuinty government is proud of our fine authors and publishers who demonstrate year-after-year that Ontario's authors are among the world's best. Congratulations to this year's winners."

— Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

"The winners of the 25^th Trillium Book Award truly represent the fabulous talent, diversity and appeal of Ontario's literary heritage, as well as its exciting future. These authors join an illustrious group of previous winners that have inspired readers for the past twenty-five years. Congratulations to all of the authors -- and to the publishers who nurture them -- for continuing to bring our very own stories to audiences at home and abroad."

— Kevin Shea, Chair, Ontario Media Development Corporation

QUICK FACTS 

• The Trillium Book Award is among the most highly regarded national and international literary prizes.  Previous winners have included world-renowned writers Margaret Atwood, Austin Clarke, Thomas King, Michael Ondaatje, Andrée Lacelle and François Paré.
• The Trillium Book Award for Poetry recognizes literary achievement for a first, second or third published work of poetry. Works by more established poets are eligible for the traditional Trillium Book Award (as was the case with two of the nominations this year for poetry titles by Ken Babstock and Phil Hall).
• Trillium Book Award English-language and French-language winners receive $20,000. Publishers of the winning books each receive $2,500 towards their promotional costs. The respective winners of the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in English-language each receive $10,000 and their publishers receive $2,000. All finalists receive a $500 honorarium.
• Book publishing is a $1.36 billion industry in Ontario, with 479 firms employing more than 4,700 Ontarians.

LEARN MORE

The Ontario government established the Trillium Book Award (Backgrounder available) in 1987 to recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and their works. Ontario Media Development Corporation manages the Trillium Book Awards.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport that facilitates economic development opportunities for Ontario's cultural media industries including book and magazine publishing, film and television, music and interactive digital media industries.

BE PART OF IT

Ontario is a global hub for content creation and distribution. From digital innovation to literature, Ontario's cultural sectors contribute billions of dollars to the economy, employ hundreds of thousands of people and power some of the world's most innovative content.

For investors and creators, businesses and consumers, OMDC's investment funds and programs help bring a wealth of opportunity to Ontario. Be part of it and visit www.OMDC.on.ca to learn more.