The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer who has not yet published his or her first book. Formerly restricted to writers under age 35, the age limit was removed in 2021, with the prize now open to emerging writers regardless of age.
Named in memory of Bronwen Wallace, a Canadian writer who died of cancer in 1989, the award was created in 1994 by her literary executor Carolyn Smart to honour Wallace's work as a creative writing instructor and mentor to young writers. The Royal Bank of Canada stepped in as the award's corporate sponsor in 2012, through its Emerging Artists Project.
The prize has a monetary value of $10,000, with finalists receiving $2,500. The prize formerly alternated every other year between poetry and short fiction; in 2020 the Writers' Trust announced that they would present annual awards in both categories. In October 2024, the Writers' Trust announced that a third award category for creative non-fiction will be added to the awards in 2025.
Winners
Note that at present, the Writers Trust's awards database does not provide the titles of winning or nominated works prior to 2008. Before that date, titles are provided below where known from other sources; from 2008 on, all titles are listed.
| Year | Author | Title | Category | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Michael Crummey | Poetry | ||
| Nancy Jo Cullen | ||||
| Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen | ||||
| Noah Leznoff | ||||
| 1995 | Adele Megann | Short fiction | ||
| Natalee Caple | ||||
| Denise Ryan | ||||
| 1996 | Stephanie Bolster | Poetry | ||
| Jacqueline Larson | ||||
| Shannon Stewart | ||||
| 1997 | Rachel Rose | Short fiction | ||
| Gail Andrews | ||||
| Alan Levin | ||||
| Oscar Martens | ||||
| Tanya Palmer | ||||
| Elizabeth Moret Ross | ||||
| 1998 | Talya Rubin | "Ariadne's Thread" | Poetry | |
| Sarah de Leeuw | ||||
| Astrid van der Pol | ||||
| 1999 | Alissa York | "Any Given Power" | Short fiction | |
| Elaine O'Connor | ||||
| Madeleine Thien | ||||
| 2000 | Sonnet L'Abbé | Poetry | ||
| Ceiran Bishop | ||||
| Erina Harris | ||||
| Anita Lahey | ||||
| 2001 | Valerie Stetson | "The Year I Got Impatient" | Short fiction | |
| Melanie Jessica Little | ||||
| Robert McGill | ||||
| Tanis Rideout | ||||
| Padma Viswanathan | ||||
| 2002 | Alison Pick | Poetry | ||
| Alison Calder | ||||
| Seema Goel | ||||
| 2003 | Gillian Best | "Seamus & Lloyd" | Short fiction | |
| Kelly Dignan | ||||
| Nathan Whitlock | ||||
| 2004 | Alison Calder | "Wolf Tree" | Poetry | |
| Elizabeth Bachinsky | "Home of Sudden Service" | |||
| Suzanne Hancock | ||||
| David Hickey | ||||
| Anna Swanson | ||||
| 2005 | Nicole Dixon | "High Watermark" | Short fiction | |
| Amy Jones | ||||
| Angela Long | ||||
| 2006 | Jeramy Dodds | "Planning Your Seascape" | Poetry | |
| Michael Reynolds | ||||
| Bren Simmers | ||||
| 2007 | No award presented due to change in award scheduling. | |||
| 2008 | Marjorie Celona | "Othello" | Short fiction | |
| Ben Lof | "When in the Field with Her at His Back" | |||
| Grace O'Connell | "The Bottlenecks" | |||
| 2009 | Emily McGiffin | "Wokkpash and Other Poems" | Poetry | |
| Michael Johnson | "The Minnow and Other Poems" | |||
| Jeff Latosik | "How the Tiklaalik Came Onto Land and Other Poems" | |||
| 2010 | Kilby Smith-McGregor | "The Bird in Hand" | Short fiction | |
| Shashi Bhat | "Indian Cooking" | |||
| Claire Tacon | "Dumb Dog" | |||
| 2011 | Garth Martens | "Inheritance and Other Poems" | Poetry | |
| Raoul Fernandes | "By Way of Explanation" | |||
| Anne-Marie Turza | "The Quiet III" | |||
| 2012 | Jen Neale | "Elk-Headed Man" | Short fiction | |
| Dina Del Bucchia | "At the Bottom of the Garden" | |||
| Kathy Friedman | "Under the 'I'" | |||
| 2013 | Laura Clarke | "Mule Variations" | Poetry | |
| Laura Matwichuk | "Here Comes the Future" | |||
| Suzannah Showler | "The Reason and Other Poems" | |||
| 2014 | Erin Frances Fisher | "Girl" | Short fiction | |
| Leah Jane Esau | "Dream Interpretation" | |||
| Jakub Stachurski | "Screen Capture" | |||
| 2015 | Alessandra Naccarato | "Re-Origin of Species" | Poetry | |
| Irfan Ali | "Who I Think About When I Think About You" | |||
| Chuqiao Yang | "Roads Home" | |||
| 2016 | Brendan Bowles | "Wyatt Thurst" | Short fiction | |
| Allegra McKenzie | "This Monstrous Heart" | |||
| Hannah Rahimi | "With My Scarf Tied Just So" | |||
| 2017 | Noor Naga | "The Mistress and the Pig" | Poetry | |
| Tyler Engström | "after thoughts" | |||
| Domenica Martinello | "All Day I Dream About Sirens" | |||
| 2018 | Maria Reva | "The Ermine Coat" | Short fiction | |
| Sarah Christina Brown | "Kingdom Come" | |||
| Khalida Hassan | "Adjacent Rooms" | |||
| 2019 | John Elizabeth Stintzi | "Selections from Junebat" | Poetry | |
| Rebecca Salazar | "Your Public Body" | |||
| Ellie Sawatzky | "Unorganized Territory" | |||
| 2020 | Leah Mol | "Six Things My Father Taught Me About Bears" | Short fiction | |
| Jamaluddin Aram | "This Hard Easy Life" | |||
| Omer Friedlander | "Palestinian Still Life" | |||
| Alexa Winik | "Selections from Winter Stars Visible in December" | Poetry | ||
| nina jane drystek | "C;ode" | |||
| Zoe Imani Sharpe | "Selection from " | |||
| 2021 | Anna Ling Kaye | "East City" | Short fiction | |
| Carolyn Chung | "Bright Fish, Dead Bird" | |||
| Joshua Wales | "Mass Effect" | |||
| Zehra Naqvi | "The Knot of My Tongue" | Poetry | ||
| Jessica Bebenek | "Selections from No One Knows Us There" | |||
| Hannah Green | "XANAX COWBOY" | |||
| 2022 | Teya Hollier | "Watching, Waiting" | Short Fiction | |
| Jen Batler | "Ectopia Cordis" | |||
| Emily Paskevics | "Wild Girls" | |||
| Patrick James Errington | "If Fire, Then Bird" | Poetry | ||
| Eimear Laffan | "My Life, Delimited" | |||
| Christine Wu | "Familial Hungers" | |||
| 2023 | Zak Jones | "So Much More to Say" | Short fiction | |
| Vincent Anioke | "Mama’s Lullabies" | |||
| Zilla Jones | "Triggered" | |||
| Cooper Skjeie | "Scattered Oblations" | Poetry | ||
| Kyo Lee | "diasporic dissonance" | |||
| Dora Prieto | "Notes on the Non-Place" | |||
| 2024 | Nayani Jensen | "Like Rabbits" | Short fiction | |
| Henry Heavyshield | "Our Rez Anomaly" | |||
| Reid Kerr-Keller | "On Venlafaxine and Ghosts" | |||
| Faith Paré | "Selections from 'a fine African Head'" | Poetry | ||
| Ashleigh A. Allen | "balcony buffalo" | |||
| Sneha Subramanian Kanta | "Hiraeth" | |||
References
- "The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers". Writers' Trust of Canada. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- "National literary award removes 'glaringly inequitable' emerging writer age cap". CBC News Windsor, January 27, 2021.
- ^ "Laura Clarke wins RBC Bronwen Wallace Award". Toronto Star, May 28, 2013.
- "RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers doubles, will give two $10,000 prizes in 2020". CBC Books, January 7, 2020.
- "Writers’ Trust expands RBC Bronwen Wallace Award to creative nonfiction". Quill & Quire, October 28, 2024.
- "Newfoundland poet wins prize". Edmonton Journal, May 28, 1994.
- "Calgary writer wins national award". Calgary Herald, May 26. 1995.
- "Quebec City poet wins developing-writer prize". Montreal Gazette, May 31, 1996.
- "Quebec writer wins development award: Prize honours poet Bronwen Wallace". Ottawa Citizen, April 19, 1997.
- "Prizes, prizes". Montreal Gazette, May 20, 1998.
- Andrew Tolson, "Literary award means time to do what she loves: Winnipeg author Alissa York wins the Journey Prize". National Post, October 21, 1999.
- Rob McLennan, "Two types of poetic meaning". The Globe and Mail, April 28, 2001.
- "Wallace Award goes to B.C. writer". The Globe and Mail, May 26, 2001.
- "Former Kitchener woman awarded Writers' Trust prize". Waterloo Region Record, March 6, 2002.
- "Bronwen Wallace Award goes to Gillian Best". The Globe and Mail, November 19, 2003.
- Angie Abdou, "Alison Calder". The Canadian Encyclopedia, July 18, 2012.
- Dan McCaffery, "Sarnian receives literary honour: Dixon Wins Bronwen Wallace Award". Sarnia Observer, December 21, 2005.
- Rodger J. Moran, "Jeramy Dodds". The Canadian Encyclopedia, September 11, 2011.
- "Young writer claims award with Othello". Saanich News, January 25, 2008.
- "Finalists named for emerging writers prize". CBC News, January 8, 2008.
- "Young B.C. poet wins Bronwen Wallace Award". The Globe and Mail, April 3, 2009.
- Vit Wagner, "Toronto poet up for emerging writer award". Toronto Star, February 24, 2009.
- "Book winners". Toronto Star, June 10, 2010.
- Russell Smith, "A refreshing reminder of what poetry can do". The Globe and Mail, May 12, 2011.
- "Jen Neale wins RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers" Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today. National Post, May 3, 2012.
- "Erin Frances Fisher wins RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers". CBC Books, May 28, 2014.
- "Toronto critics reward best local theatre". Toronto Star, May 27, 2015.
- "Wallace award winner formerly won Star contest". Toronto Star, June 11, 2016.
- "Writers' Trust announces finalists". Toronto Star, May 12, 2016.
- "Noor Naga wins 2017 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers". Quill & Quire. May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- "Maria Reva wins $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers". CBC Books, May 31, 2018.
- Erin Balser, "John Elizabeth Stintzi wins $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers". CBC Books, May 29, 2019.
- ^ "4 emerging Canadian writers receive $10K prizes from Writers' Trust of Canada". CBC Books, October 21, 2020.
- ^ Ryan Porter, "Short fiction and poetry finalists announced for the 2020 Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers". Quill & Quire, August 24, 2020.
- ^ Vicky Qiao, "Zehra Naqvi and Anna Ling Kaye win $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers". CBC Books, June 17, 2021.
- ^ Ryan Porter, "Six finalists announced for Brownwen Wallace Awards for Emerging Writers". Quill & Quire, May 19, 2021.
- ^ "Patrick James Errington and Teya Hollier win $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers". CBC Books. June 2, 2022.
- ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Cooper Skjeie, Zak Jones named 2023 Bronwen Wallace Award winners". Quill & Quire, June 1, 2023.
- ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Writers’ Trust announces finalists for 2023 Bronwen Wallace Award". Quill & Quire, April 26, 2023.
- ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Faith Paré, Nayani Jensen win 2024 Bronwen Wallace Award". Quill & Quire, June 3, 2024.
- ^ "6 emerging Canadian writers shortlisted for $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards". CBC Books, April 25, 2024.