Six English and five French books have been short-listed for the 20th Annual Trillium Book Award/20e édition du Prix littéraire annuel Trillium, the Ontario government’s prestigious award for literature.

Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the Trillium Book Award is among the most highly egarded literary prizes in Canada. Ontario’s vibrant publishing industry is both an mportant cultural and economic contributor to the Province’s wealth.

The Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium encourages excellence in literature through its ignificant investment in Ontario-based writers. Award recipients for both English and rench works receive $20,000. Their respective publishers also receive $2,500 to
promote the winning titles. All finalists receive a $500 honorarium.

Three English titles were short-listed for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, which ecognizes literary achievement for a first, second or third published work of poetry.

New this year for authors writing in French is the Trillium Book Award for Children’s literature. This Award will be offered every two years, alternating with the Trillium Book ward for Poetry in French. The winner for each of these awards receives $10,000 and their publisher $2,000 for promotion of the titles. Finalists for these awards also receive a $500 honorarium.
“On behalf of the province and the people of Ontario, I congratulate all the finalists.

They, and the publishers who nurture their talents, enrich our lives and make our province a better place to live.” said Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco. “We’re proud to support our writers through these awards because we recognize that artists reflect the best of who we are to ourselves and to the world.”

“This year’s finalists join a host of distinguished authors who have won the Award over the past 20 years,” notes Kevin Shea, Chair of Ontario Media Development Corporation, which administers the awards. “This year, past Trillium Book Award winners Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Michael Ondaatje are nominated for the International Man Booker Prize, and Michèle Matteau and Daniel Poliquin are finalists for this year’s Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada. ”

TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD/PRIX TRILLIUM FINALISTS

This year’s English Finalists for the Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium are:

Anar Ali, Baby Khaki’s Wings (Penguin Group Canada)
Dionne Brand, Inventory (McClelland & Stewart)
Bernice Eisenstein, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors (McClelland & Stewart)
Mark Frutkin, Fabrizio’s Return (Knopf Canada)
Charlotte Gray, Reluctant Genius (HarperCollins Canada)
Wayne Johnston, The Custodian of Paradise (Knopf Canada)

This year’s French Finalists for the Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium are:

Marguerite Andersen, Doucement le bonheur (Prise de parole)
Daniel Castillo Durante, La passion des nomades (ZYZ Éditeur)
Claude Forand, Ainsi parle le Saigneur (Les Éditions David)
Daniel Poliquin, La Kermesse (Les Éditions du Boréal)
Paul Savoie, Crac (Les Éditions David)

English Finalists for theTrillium Book Award for Poetry are:

Ken Babstock, Airstream Land Yacht (House of Anansi Press)
Adam Dickinson, Kingdom, Phylum (Brick Books)
Anita Lahey, Out to Dry in Cape Breton (Véhicule Press)

French Finalists for the Trillium Book Award for Children’s Literature are:

Mireille Desjarlais-Heynneman, La nuit où le Soleil est parti (Les Éditions du
Vermillon)
Céline Forcier, Un canard majuscule (Les Éditions du Vermillon)
Françoise Lepage, Poupeska (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

Minister Di Cocco will announce the winners in Toronto at an awards luncheon at Hart House on June 4, 2007. Several past and present Trillium Award winning authors will participate in a public celebration of the Trillium Award’s 20th Anniversary held that evening at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, as part of Luminato, Toronto’s festival of Arts and Creativity.