Amazon.ca First Novel Award

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a literary award given annually 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 Books Inc., 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 Stein's retained a First Novel editor, introduced a comprehensive first novel review program, and formalized the adjudication process. In 1999, the magazine decided to end its affiliation with Chapters and became the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award. The Amazon.com arrangement saw the prize award doubled to ten thousand dollars. The award was sold to Amazon.com in 2009 and its name was changed to the current incarnation.

Winners and nominees

1976

The 1976 award was a tie.

• Ian McLachlan, The Seventh Hexagram
• Michael Ondaatje, Coming Through Slaughter
• Alice Boissoneau, Eileen McCullough
• David Kellum, The Falling World of Tristram Pocket
• Susan Kerslake, Middlewatch
• Sharon Riis, The True Story of Ida Johnson
• Carol Shields, Small Ceremonies
• Mary Soderstrom, The Descent of Andrew McPherson

1977

• Oonah McFee, Sandbars
• Shane Dennison, Sidehill Gouger
• Pauline Gedge, Child of the Morning
• Jack Hodgins, The Invention of the World
• M.T. Kelly, I Do Remember the Fall
• Helen Levi, A Small Informal Dance
• Morley Torgov, The Abramsky Variations

1978

• Joan Barfoot, Abra
• Michael Dorland, The Double-Cross Circuit
• Clive Doucet, Disneyland, Please
• Margaret Drury Gane, Parade on an Empty Street
• Kevin Major, Hold Fast
• Frank Paci, The Italians

1979

• Clark Blaise, Lunar Attractions
• Victoria Branden, Mrs. Job
• Stan Dragland, Peckertracks
• Florence Evans, A Man Without Passion
• Shirley Faessler, Everything in the Window
• Katherine Govier, Random Descent
• Betty Lambert, Crossings

1980

• W.D. Valgardson, Gentle Sinners
• Martyn Burke, Laughing War
• Susan Musgrave, The Charcoal Burners
• Graham Petrie, Seahorse
• Leon Rooke, Fat Woman

1981

• Joy Kogawa, Obasan
• Jim Christy, Streethearts
• George Jonas, Final Decree
• Edward O. Phillips, Sunday's Child
• Gary Ross, Always Tip the Dealer

1982

• W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe
• Lorris Elliott, Coming for to Carry
• Nessa Rapoport, Preparing for Sabbath
• Geraldine Rahmani, Blue
• Ann Rosenberg, The Bee Book

1983

• Heather Robertson, Willie: A Romance
• Robert G. Collins, Tolerable Levels of Violence
• Susan Swan, The Biggest Modern Woman in the World
• George Szanto, Not Working
• Wayne Tefs, Figures on a Wharf

1984

• Geoffrey Ursell, Perdue, or How the West Was Lost
• Sharon Butala, Country of the Heart
• Douglas Glover, Precious
• John Gray, Dazzled
• Sara Stambaugh, I Hear the Reaper's Song
• Armin Wiebe, The Salvation of Yasch Siemens

1985

• Wayne Johnston, The Story of Bobby O'Malley
• Susan Charlotte Haley, A Nest of Singing Birds
• Ann Ireland, A Certain Mr. Takahashi
• Frank Jones, Master and Maid
• Robert Walshe, Wales' Work

1986

• Karen Lawrence, The Life of Helen Alone
• Jo Anne Williams Bennett, Downfall People
• Marc Diamond, Momentum
• David Gilmour, Back on Tuesday
• Paulette Jiles, The Late Great Human Road Show

1987

• Marion Quednau, The Butterfly Chair
• D.F. Bailey, Fire Eyes
• W.D. Barcus, Squatters' Island
• Pauline Holdstock, The Blackbird's Song
• Seán Virgo, Selakhi

1988

• Rick Salutin, A Man of Little Faith
• Neil Bissoondath, A Casual Brutality
• Joan Clark, The Victory of Geraldine Gull
• David Homel, Electrical Storms
• Janice Kulyk Keefer, Constellations
• Helen Fogwill Porter, January, February, June or July

1989

• Sandra Birdsell, The Missing Child
• Marilyn Bowering, To All Appearances a Lady
• Barry Callaghan, The Way the Angel Spread Her Wings
• Jacqueline Dumas, Madeleine and the Angel
• Kristjana Gunnars, The Prowler
• Kenneth Radu, Distant Relations

1990

• Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints
• Gail Bowen, Deadly Appearances
• Rita Donovan, The Dark Jewels
• Glen Huser, Grace Lake
• Margot Livesey, Homework
• Carsten Stroud, Sniper's Moon

1991

• Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey
• Douglas Coupland, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
• Ekbert Faas, Woyzeck's Head
• Michael Kenyon, Kleinberg
• Alberto Manguel, News From a Foreign Country Came

1992

• John Steffler, The Afterlife of George Cartwright
• Douglas Anthony Cooper, Amnesia
• Carole Corbeil, Voice-Over
• Kenneth J. Harvey, Brud
• Greg Hollingshead, Spin Dry

1993

• Deborah Joy Corey, Losing Eddie
• Catherine Bush, Minus Time
• Don Dickinson, The Crew
• Douglas How, Blow Up the Trumpet in the New Moon
• Carol Malyon, If I Knew I'd Tell You

1994

• Shyam Selvadurai, Funny Boy
• Charles Foran, Kitchen Music
• Diane Schoemperlen, In the Language of Love
• Russell Smith, How Insensitive
• Cordelia Strube, Alex & Zee

1995

• Keath Fraser, Popular Anatomy
• Diana Atkinson, Highways and Dancehalls
• Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony
• Larissa Lai, When Fox Is a Thousand
• Yan Li, Daughters of the Red Land

1996

• Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
• Gail Anderson-Dargatz, The Cure for Death by Lightning
• Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees
• Yann Martel, Self
• Shani Mootoo, Cereus Blooms at Night

1997

• Margaret Gibson, Opium Dreams
• Kim Echlin, Elephant Winter
• Allan Levine, The Blood Libel
• Rabindranath Maharaj, Homer in Flight
• Tim Wynveen, Angel Falls

1998

• André Alexis, Childhood
• Loranne Brown, The Handless Maiden
• Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen
• Terry Jordan, Beneath That Starry Place
• Kerri Sakamoto, The Electrical Field

1999

The 1999 award was a tie.

• David Macfarlane, Summer Gone
• Alan R. Wilson, Before the Flood
• Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief
• Donna Morrissey, Kit's Law
• Jim Munroe, Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask
• Catherine Simmons-Niven, A Fine Daughter

2000

Eva Stachniak on Bookbits radio.

• Eva Stachniak, Necessary Lies
• Steven Galloway, Finnie Walsh
• Scott Gardiner, The Dominion of Wyley McFadden
• Susan Juby, Alice, I Think
• Lydia Kwa, This Place Called Absence

2001

• Michael Redhill, Martin Sloane
• Dennis Bock, The Ash Garden
• Michael Crummey, River Thieves
• Marina Endicott, Open Arms
• Linda Little, Strong Hollow
• Elizabeth Ruth, Ten Good Seconds of Silence

2002

• Mary Lawson, Crow Lake
• Christy Ann Conlin, Heave
• Aislinn Hunter, Stay
• Clint Hutzulak, The Beautiful Dead End
• Michael V. Smith, Cumberland
• Marnie Woodrow, Spelling Mississippi

2003

• Michel Basilières, Black Bird
• Clayton Bailey, The Expedition
• John Bemrose, The Island Walkers
• Lisa Grekul, Kalyna's Song
• Bettina von Kampen, Blue Becomes You
• Edeet Ravel, Ten Thousand Lovers

2004

• Colin McAdam, Some Great Thing
• David Elias, Sunday Afternoon
• Ibi Kaslik, Skinny
• Arthur Motyer, What's Remembered
• Catherine Safer, Bishop's Road

2005

• Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road
• Howard Akler, The City Man
• Brenda Brooks, Gotta Find Me an Angel
• Anne Giardini, The Sad Truth About Happiness
• Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, The Nettle Spinner
• B. Glen Rotchin, The Rent Collector

2006

• Madeleine Thien, Certainty
• Peter Behrens, The Law of Dreams
• John Degen, The Uninvited Guest
• Annette Lapointe, Stolen
• Heather O'Neill, Lullabies for Little Criminals
• Adam Lewis Schroeder, Empress of Asia

2007

• Gil Adamson, The Outlander
• David Chariandy, Soucouyant
• Kyo Maclear, The Letter Opener
• C.S. Richardson, The End of the Alphabet
• Brian Tucker, Big White Knuckles
• Andrew Wedderburn, The Milk Chicken Bomb

2008

• Joan Thomas, Reading by Lightning
• Mike Blouin, Chase & Haven
• Claudia Dey, Stunt
• Patrick Lane, Red Dog, Red Dog
• Mary Swan, The Boys in the Trees

2009

• Jessica Grant, Come, Thou Tortoise
• Diana Fitzgerald Bryden, No Place Strange
• Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean
• Damian Tarnopolsky, Goya's Dog
• Dragan Todorović, Diary of Interrupted Days
• Ian Weir, Daniel O'Thunder

2010

• Eleanor Catton, The Rehearsal
• Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, Ghosted
• Miguel Syjuco, Ilustrado
• Kathleen Winter, Annabel
• Dianne Warren, Cool Water

2011

• David Bezmozgis, The Free World
• Fraser Nixon, The Man Who Killed
• Sina Queyra, Autobiography of Childhood
• Olive Senior, Dancing Lessons
• Alexi Zentner, Touch

External links

• First Novel Award at Amazon.ca
• Official Books in Canada website (defunct since December 2006)