Amazon.ca First Novel Award
The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and The Walrus to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of Canada. It has been awarded since 1976.
The First Novel Award was founded by the literary magazine Books in Canada. Between 1976 and 1994, the award was sponsored by SmithBooks. During this period, the award was known as the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award. When SmithBooks was acquired by Chapters, it became the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
The award was reorganized when Books in Canada was acquired by Adrian and Olga Stein in 1995. The Steins retained a first novel editor, introduced a comprehensive first novel review program, and formalized the adjudication process.
Amazon first signed on as a sponsor of the award in 2001, with the award presented as the amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award through the 2000s. Full administration of the award was taken over by Amazon in 2009 and its name was changed to the current incarnation. The Amazon.com arrangement saw the prize award initially doubled to $10,000, and then increased to its current amount of $40,000, with shortlisted finalists each receiving over $6,000.
Winners and nominees
At different times in its history, the award has been presented early in the year for works published in the preceding year, late in the year for works published in the same year as the presentation, or mid-year for an eligibility period that straddled parts of both years. For clarity, the list below is organized by the year of presentation rather than the year of publication eligibility.
1970s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Ian McLachlan | The Seventh Hexagram | Winner | |
| Michael Ondaatje | Coming Through Slaughter | Winner | ||
| Alice Boissoneau | Eileen McCullough | Finalist | ||
| David Kellum | The Falling World of Tristram Pocket | Finalist | ||
| Susan Kerslake | Middlewatch | Finalist | ||
| Sharon Riis | The True Story of Ida Johnson | Finalist | ||
| Carol Shields | Small Ceremonies | Finalist | ||
| Mary Soderstrom | The Descent of Andrew McPherson | Finalist | ||
| 1978 | Oonah McFee | Sandbars | Winner | |
| Shane Dennison | Sidehill Gouger | Finalist | ||
| Pauline Gedge | Child of the Morning | Finalist | ||
| Jack Hodgins | The Invention of the World | Finalist | ||
| M. T. Kelly | I Do Remember the Fall | Finalist | ||
| Helen Levi | A Small Informal Dance | Finalist | ||
| Morley Torgov | The Abramsky Variations | Finalist | ||
| 1979 | Joan Barfoot | Abra | Winner | |
| Michael Dorland | The Double-Cross Circuit | Finalist | ||
| Clive Doucet | Disneyland, Please | Finalist | ||
| Margaret Drury Gane | Parade on an Empty Street | Finalist | ||
| Kevin Major | Hold Fast | Finalist | ||
| Frank Paci | The Italians | Finalist |
1980s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Clark Blaise | Lunar Attractions | Winner | |
| Victoria Branden | Mrs. Job | Finalist | ||
| Stan Dragland | Peckertracks | Finalist | ||
| Florence Evans | A Man Without Passion | Finalist | ||
| Shirley Faessler | Everything in the Window | Finalist | ||
| Katherine Govier | Random Descent | Finalist | ||
| Betty Lambert | Crossings | Finalist | ||
| 1981 | W. D. Valgardson | Gentle Sinners | Winner | |
| Martyn Burke | Laughing War | Finalist | ||
| Susan Musgrave | The Charcoal Burners | Finalist | ||
| Graham Petrie | Seahorse | Finalist | ||
| Leon Rooke | Fat Woman | Finalist | ||
| 1982 | Joy Kogawa | Obasan | Winner | |
| Jim Christy | Streethearts | Finalist | ||
| George Jonas | Final Decree | Finalist | ||
| Edward O. Phillips | Sunday's Child | Finalist | ||
| Gary Ross | Always Tip the Dealer | Finalist | ||
| 1983 | W. P. Kinsella | Shoeless Joe | Winner | |
| Lorris Elliott | Coming for to Carry | Finalist | ||
| Geraldine Rahmani | Blue | Finalist | ||
| Nessa Rapoport | Preparing for Sabbath | Finalist | ||
| Ann Rosenberg | The Bee Book | Finalist | ||
| 1984 | Heather Robertson | Willie: A Romance | Winner | |
| Robert G. Collins | Tolerable Levels of Violence | Finalist | ||
| Susan Swan | The Biggest Modern Woman in the World | Finalist | ||
| George Szanto | Not Working | Finalist | ||
| Wayne Tefs | Figures on a Wharf | Finalist | ||
| 1985 | Geoffrey Ursell | Perdue, or How the West Was Lost | Winner | |
| Sharon Butala | Country of the Heart | Finalist | ||
| Douglas Glover | Precious | Finalist | ||
| John Gray | Dazzled | Finalist | ||
| Sara Stambaugh | I Hear the Reaper's Song | Finalist | ||
| Armin Wiebe | The Salvation of Yasch Siemens | Finalist | ||
| 1986 | Wayne Johnston | The Story of Bobby O'Malley | Winner | |
| Susan Charlotte Haley | A Nest of Singing Birds | Finalist | ||
| Ann Ireland | A Certain Mr. Takahashi | Finalist | ||
| Frank Jones | Master and Maid | Finalist | ||
| Robert Walshe | Wales' Work | Finalist | ||
| 1987 | Karen Lawrence | The Life of Helen Alone | Winner | |
| Marc Diamond | Momentum | Finalist | ||
| David Gilmour | Back on Tuesday | Finalist | ||
| Paulette Jiles | The Late Great Human Road Show | Finalist | ||
| Jo Anne Williams Bennett | Downfall People | Finalist | ||
| 1988 | Marion Quednau | The Butterfly Chair | Winner | |
| D.F. Bailey | Fire Eyes | Finalist | ||
| W.D. Barcus | Squatters' Island | Finalist | ||
| Pauline Holdstock | The Blackbird's Song | Finalist | ||
| Seán Virgo | Selakhi | Finalist | ||
| 1989 | Rick Salutin | A Man of Little Faith | Winner | |
| Neil Bissoondath | A Casual Brutality | Finalist | ||
| Joan Clark | The Victory of Geraldine Gull | Finalist | ||
| David Homel | Electrical Storms | Finalist | ||
| Janice Kulyk Keefer | Constellations | Finalist | ||
| Helen Fogwill Porter | January, February, June or July | Finalist |
1990s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Sandra Birdsell | The Missing Child | Winner | |
| Marilyn Bowering | To All Appearances a Lady | Finalist | ||
| Barry Callaghan | The Way the Angel Spread Her Wings | Finalist | ||
| Jacqueline Dumas | Madeleine and the Angel | Finalist | ||
| Kristjana Gunnars | The Prowler | Finalist | ||
| Kenneth Radu | Distant Relations | Finalist | ||
| 1991 | Nino Ricci | Lives of the Saints | Winner | |
| Gail Bowen | Deadly Appearances | Finalist | ||
| Rita Donovan | The Dark Jewels | Finalist | ||
| Glen Huser | Grace Lake | Finalist | ||
| Margot Livesey | Homework | Finalist | ||
| Carsten Stroud | Sniper's Moon | Finalist | ||
| 1992 | Rohinton Mistry | Such a Long Journey | Winner | |
| Douglas Coupland | Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture | Finalist | ||
| Ekbert Faas | Woyzeck's Head | Finalist | ||
| Michael Kenyon | Kleinberg | Finalist | ||
| Alberto Manguel | News From a Foreign Country Came | Finalist | ||
| 1993 | John Steffler | The Afterlife of George Cartwright | Winner | |
| Douglas Anthony Cooper | Amnesia | Finalist | ||
| Carole Corbeil | Voice-Over | Finalist | ||
| Kenneth J. Harvey | Brud | Finalist | ||
| Greg Hollingshead | Spin Dry | Finalist | ||
| 1994 | Deborah Joy Corey | Losing Eddie | Winner | |
| Catherine Bush | Minus Time | Finalist | ||
| Don Dickinson | The Crew | Finalist | ||
| Douglas How | Blow Up the Trumpet in the New Moon | Finalist | ||
| Carol Malyon | If I Knew I'd Tell You | Finalist | ||
| 1995 | Shyam Selvadurai | Funny Boy | Winner | |
| Charles Foran | Kitchen Music | Finalist | ||
| Diane Schoemperlen | In the Language of Love | Finalist | ||
| Russell Smith | How Insensitive | Finalist | ||
| Cordelia Strube | Alex & Zee | Finalist | ||
| 1996 | Keath Fraser | Popular Anatomy | Winner | |
| Diana Atkinson | Highways and Dancehalls | Finalist | ||
| Wayson Choy | The Jade Peony | Finalist | ||
| Larissa Lai | When Fox Is a Thousand | Finalist | ||
| Yan Li | Daughters of the Red Land | Finalist | ||
| 1997 | Anne Michaels | Fugitive Pieces | Winner | |
| Gail Anderson-Dargatz | The Cure for Death by Lightning | Finalist | ||
| Ann-Marie MacDonald | Fall on Your Knees | Finalist | ||
| Yann Martel | Self | Finalist | ||
| Shani Mootoo | Cereus Blooms at Night | Finalist | ||
| 1998 | Margaret Gibson | Opium Dreams | Winner | |
| Kim Echlin | Elephant Winter | Finalist | ||
| Allan Levine | The Blood Libel | Finalist | ||
| Rabindranath Maharaj | Homer in Flight | Finalist | ||
| Tim Wynveen | Angel Falls | Finalist | ||
| 1999 | André Alexis | Childhood | Winner | |
| Loranne Brown | The Handless Maiden | Finalist | ||
| Tomson Highway | Kiss of the Fur Queen | Finalist | ||
| Terry Jordan | Beneath That Starry Place | Finalist | ||
| Kerri Sakamoto | The Electrical Field | Finalist |
2000s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | David Macfarlane | Summer Gone | Winner | |
| Alan R. Wilson | Before the Flood | Winner | ||
| Alistair MacLeod | No Great Mischief | Finalist | ||
| Donna Morrissey | Kit's Law | Finalist | ||
| Jim Munroe | Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask | Finalist | ||
| Catherine Simmons-Niven | A Fine Daughter | Finalist | ||
| 2001 | Eva Stachniak | Necessary Lies | Winner | |
| Steven Galloway | Finnie Walsh | Finalist | ||
| Scott Gardiner | The Dominion of Wyley McFadden | Finalist | ||
| Susan Juby | Alice, I Think | Finalist | ||
| Lydia Kwa | This Place Called Absence | Finalist | ||
| 2002 | Michael Redhill | Martin Sloane | Winner | |
| Dennis Bock | The Ash Garden | Finalist | ||
| Michael Crummey | River Thieves | Finalist | ||
| Marina Endicott | Open Arms | Finalist | ||
| Linda Little | Strong Hollow | Finalist | ||
| Elizabeth Ruth | Ten Good Seconds of Silence | Finalist | ||
| 2003 | Mary Lawson | Crow Lake | Winner | |
| Christy Ann Conlin | Heave | Finalist | ||
| Aislinn Hunter | Stay | Finalist | ||
| Clint Hutzulak | The Beautiful Dead End | Finalist | ||
| Michael V. Smith | Cumberland | Finalist | ||
| Marnie Woodrow | Spelling Mississippi | Finalist | ||
| 2004 | Michel Basilières | Black Bird | Winner | |
| Clayton Bailey | The Expedition | Finalist | ||
| John Bemrose | The Island Walkers | Finalist | ||
| Lisa Grekul | Kalyna's Song | Finalist | ||
| Edeet Ravel | Ten Thousand Lovers | Finalist | ||
| Bettina von Kampen | Blue Becomes You | Finalist | ||
| 2005 | Colin McAdam | Some Great Thing | Winner | |
| David Elias | Sunday Afternoon | Finalist | ||
| Ibi Kaslik | Skinny | Finalist | ||
| Arthur Motyer | What's Remembered | Finalist | ||
| Catherine Safer | Bishop's Road | Finalist | ||
| 2006 | Joseph Boyden | Three Day Road | Winner | |
| Howard Akler | The City Man | Finalist | ||
| Brenda Brooks | Gotta Find Me an Angel | Finalist | ||
| Anne Giardini | The Sad Truth About Happiness | Finalist | ||
| Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer | The Nettle Spinner | Finalist | ||
| B. Glen Rotchin | The Rent Collector | Finalist | ||
| 2007 | Madeleine Thien | Certainty | Winner | |
| Peter Behrens | The Law of Dreams | Finalist | ||
| John Degen | The Uninvited Guest | Finalist | ||
| Annette Lapointe | Stolen | Finalist | ||
| Heather O'Neill | Lullabies for Little Criminals | Finalist | ||
| Adam Lewis Schroeder | Empress of Asia | Finalist | ||
| 2008 | Gil Adamson | The Outlander | Winner | |
| David Chariandy | Soucouyant | Finalist | ||
| Kyo Maclear | The Letter Opener | Finalist | ||
| C.S. Richardson | The End of the Alphabet | Finalist | ||
| Brian Tucker | Big White Knuckles | Finalist | ||
| Andrew Wedderburn | The Milk Chicken Bomb | Finalist | ||
| 2009 | Joan Thomas | Reading by Lightning | Winner | |
| Michael Blouin | Chase & Haven | Finalist | ||
| Claudia Dey | Stunt | Finalist | ||
| Patrick Lane | Red Dog, Red Dog | Finalist | ||
| Mary Swan | The Boys in the Trees | Finalist |
2010s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Jessica Grant | Come, Thou Tortoise | Winner | |
| Diana Fitzgerald Bryden | No Place Strange | Finalist | ||
| Annabel Lyon | The Golden Mean | Finalist | ||
| Damian Tarnopolsky | Goya's Dog | Finalist | ||
| Dragan Todorović | Diary of Interrupted Days | Finalist | ||
| Ian Weir | Daniel O'Thunder | Finalist | ||
| 2011 | Eleanor Catton | The Rehearsal | Winner | |
| Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall | Ghosted | Finalist | ||
| Miguel Syjuco | Ilustrado | Finalist | ||
| Dianne Warren | Cool Water | Finalist | ||
| Kathleen Winter | Annabel | Finalist | ||
| 2012 | David Bezmozgis | The Free World | Winner | |
| Fraser Nixon | The Man Who Killed | Finalist | ||
| Sina Queyras | Autobiography of Childhood | Finalist | ||
| Olive Senior | Dancing Lessons | Finalist | ||
| Alexi Zentner | Touch | Finalist | ||
| 2013 | Anakana Schofield | Malarky | Winner | |
| Marjorie Celona | Y | Finalist | ||
| Scott Fotheringham | The Rest Is Silence | Finalist | ||
| Pasha Malla | People Park | Finalist | ||
| Kim Thúy | Ru | Finalist | ||
| 2014 | Wayne Grady | Emancipation Day | Winner | |
| Kenneth Bonert | The Lion Seeker | Finalist | ||
| Krista Bridge | The Eliot Girls | Finalist | ||
| Susan Downe | Juanita Wildrose: My True Life | Finalist | ||
| D. W. Wilson | Ballistics | Finalist | ||
| 2015 | Alix Hawley | All True Not a Lie in It | Winner | |
| Emma Hooper | Etta and Otto and Russell and James | Finalist | ||
| Sean Michaels | Us Conductors | Finalist | ||
| Guillaume Morissette | New Tab | Finalist | ||
| Chelsea Rooney | Pedal | Finalist | ||
| 2016 | Mona Awad | 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl | Winner | |
| Karim Alrawi | Book of Sands | Finalist | ||
| Aaron Cully Drake | Do You Think This Is Strange? | Finalist | ||
| W. Mark Giles | Seep | Finalist | ||
| Judith McCormack | Backspring | Finalist | ||
| Elizabeth Philips | The Afterlife of Birds | Finalist | ||
| 2017 | Katherena Vermette | The Break | Winner | |
| Catherine Cooper | White Elephant | Finalist | ||
| Kaie Kellough | Accordéon | Finalist | ||
| Rebecca Rosenblum | So Much Love | Finalist | ||
| Yasuko Thanh | Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains | Finalist | ||
| 2018 | Michael Kaan | The Water Beetles | Winner | |
| Sharon Bala | The Boat People | Finalist | ||
| David Demchuk | The Bone Mother | Finalist | ||
| Omar El Akkad | American War | Finalist | ||
| Rachel Manley | The Black Peacock | Finalist | ||
| Alison Watt | Dazzle Patterns | Finalist | ||
| 2019 | Casey Plett | Little Fish | Winner | |
| Liz Harmer | The Amateurs | Finalist | ||
| Tyler Hellard | Searching for Terry Punchout | Finalist | ||
| Tanya Tagaq | Split Tooth | Finalist | ||
| Joshua Whitehead | Jonny Appleseed | Finalist | ||
| Ian Williams | Reproduction | Finalist |
2020s
| Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Stéphane Larue | The Dishwasher | Winner | |
| Nancy Jo Cullen | The Western Alienation Merit Badge | Finalist | ||
| James Gregor | Going Dutch | |||
| Victoria Hetherington | Mooncalves | |||
| Nazanine Hozar | Aria | |||
| Andrew David MacDonald | When We Were Vikings | |||
| 2021 | Michelle Good | Five Little Indians | Winner | |
| Sheung-King | You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked. | Finalist | ||
| Francesca Ekwuyasi | Butter Honey Pig Bread | |||
| Marlowe Granados | Happy Hour | |||
| Jael Richardson | Gutter Child | |||
| John Elizabeth Stintzi | Vanishing Monuments | |||
| 2022 | Pik-Shuen Fung | Ghost Forest | Winner | |
| Emily Austin | Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead | Finalist | ||
| Lisa Bird-Wilson | Probably Ruby | |||
| Brian Thomas Isaac | All the Quiet Places | |||
| Conor Kerr | Avenue of Champions | |||
| Aimee Wall | We, Jane | |||
| 2023 | Jasmine Sealy | The Island of Forgetting | Winner | |
| Billy-Ray Belcourt | A Minor Chorus | Finalist | ||
| André Forget | In the City of Pigs | |||
| Jessica Johns | Bad Cree | |||
| William Ping | Hollow Bamboo | |||
| Kai Thomas | In the Upper Country |