Ben Ladouceur Wins 2018 Writers' Trust Dayne Ogilvie Award for LGBTQ Emerging Writers!

We could not be more excited to announce that Ben Ladouceur is the winner of the 2018 Writers' Trust Dayne Ogilvie Award for LGBTQ Emerging Writers.

Ben is the author of the acclaimed poetry collection Otter (Coach House Books) and also happens to be one of our own, amazing Open Book columnists (you can read Ben's Open Book columns here). You can also read an excerpt from Otter on the Writers' Trust website here (PDF link). Otter has earned numerous honours, including winning the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and being nominated for the prestigious Lambda Literary Award. Ben is currently the prose editor for Arc Poetry Magazine and previously won the Earle Birney Poetry Prize from PRISM International. 

The $4,000 Dayne Ogilvie Prize is awarded annually to an emerging Canadian writer from the LGBTQ community who demonstrates great promise through a body of work of exceptional quality. The prize is sponsored by Robin Pacific, who established the prize in memory of her dear friend, writer and editor Dayne Ogilvie. 

This year's award was presented on June 16 at an event at the Habourfront Centre in Toronto.

We are so incredibly happy for Ben and for his fellow nominees, Trish Salah and Joshua Whitehead. The 2018 jury was comprised of writers Ali Blythe, Greg Kearney, and Shannon Webb-Campbell.