Rakuten Kobo, in search of the best new e-books written by debut Canadian authors, has announced the shortlist for its Third Annual Emerging Writer Prize. The award was created with the goal of kick-starting the careers of debut authors, with a $10,000 (CAD) cash prize awarded to a book in each of three categories – Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction and Genre Fiction (Speculative Fiction this year). In addition, each winning author will receive promotional, marketing and communications support throughout 2017. The shortlist, selected by Kobo’s team of booksellers (with book completion rates, customer ratings and reviews all considered) comprises six books from each genre.
The shortlist will now move on to the final selection process, led by top Canadian authors Ross King (for Non-Fiction), Zoe Whittall (for Literary Fiction), and Kelley Armstrong (for Genre Fiction). Winners will be announced June 27, 2017. Here are the shortlists of new author candidates:
Non-Fiction
| Dark Ambition by Ann Brocklehurst – Penguin Canada |
| Closer by Sarah Barmak – Coach House Books |
| In-Between Days by Teva Harrison – House of Anansi Press |
| 100 Million Years Of Food by Stephen Le – HarperCollins Canada |
| The Elephants in My Backyard by Rajiv Surendra – Random House of Canada |
| Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances) by Denise Donlon – House of Anansi Press |
Literary Fiction
| The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake – Knopf Canada |
| Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety by Ann Choi – Touchstone |
| Middenrammers by John Bart – Freehand |
| School of Velocity by Eric Beck Rubin – Doubleday Canada |
| The Clay Girl by Heather Tucker – ECW Pres |
| Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard – HarperCollins Canada |
Genre Fiction (Speculative Fiction)
| The Life Engineered by Jean-Francois Dubeau – Inkshares |
| Three Years with the Rat by Jay Hosking – Penguin Canada |
| A Keeper’s Truth by Dee Willson – Driven Press |
| The Darkhouse by Barbara Radecki – Cormorant Books |
| GREY by Kade Cook – Theo & Quinn Creative Works |
| The Alchemists’ Council by Cynthea Masson – ECW Press |
For more information, please visit https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/p/emergingwritershortlist
