The Toronto Public Library has announced the 2014
Toronto Book Awards shortlist.
Whether you’re an amateur Toronto enthusiast or a committed Toronto-phile, it’s a list worth checking out. The annual award, presented by the Toronto Public Library in partnership with the City of Toronto, was established to “honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto.”
This somewhat loose criteria meant that the selection committee members were not restricted by genre, era or subject matter. The result is a list of books that, apart from being Toronto-infused, actually have very little in common. Though it sounds trite to say so, the Toronto Book Award shortlist is a great resource for almost any Toronto enthusiast no matter what their literary taste.
From non-fiction crime writing, to magical realism to the history of one of Toronto’s most influential food banks, it’s a pretty far-reaching list.
The shortlist and judges’ comments are available on the Toronto Public Library
website.
The final winner will be announced on October 16th in a ceremony held at the Toronto Reference Library’s Bram and Bluma Appel Salon.
Each short-listed author received $1000, the winner will receive $10,000. Past winners have included Margaret Atwood, Roberston Davies, and Michael Ondaatje.
“I offer my warm congratulations to the finalists,” stated Acting City Librarian Anne Bailey in a Toronto Public Library press release. “These wonderful books, so engaging and diverse in their perspectives, are now part of the fabric of our city. They are tales of wealth and privilege, poverty and loss, identity and social activism. Along the way, they touch down in the Annex, Queen West, Scarborough and Little Portugal, and reflect the many places Torontonians call home.”