The Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature Announce 2021 Shortlists

Yesterday, The Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature announced their 2021 shortlists, with authors up for awards in four categories, honouring Jewish Canadian writers or writers of any background engaging with Jewish themes in their work. 

Jewish literature in Canada has a long and rich legacy, with beloved and decorated writers like David Bezmozgis, Matt Cohen, Anne Michaels, and, of course, Mordecai Richler, to name just a few. 

Each winner in the four categories will receive a $10,000 prize, with the winners announced at an online event on November 23. All four winners were selected by jurors Zelda Abramson, Nathan Adler, and Naomi K. Lewis. 

As well as the prize ceremony, the Koffler Centre for the Arts, which presents the awards each year, is hosting three free, virtual panels featuring the shortlisted authors on November 16, 17, and 18, 2021. To attend the prize ceremony, author panels, or both, simply register online at the Koffler Centre's website (scroll down to Vine Awards Online Programs).

The 2021 Vine Awards Shortlists

Fiction:

• Sidura Ludwig, You Are Not What We Expected (House of Anansi)
• Nessa Rapoport, Evening (Counterpoint Press)
• Carol Windley, Midnight Train to Prague (HarperCollins Canada)

History:

• Paul Roberts Bentley, Strange Journey: John R. Friedeberg Seeley and the Quest for Mental Health (Academic Studies Press)
• Sharon Kirsch, The Smallest Objective (New Star Books)
• Celia Rabinovitch, Duchamp’s Pipe: A Chess Romance--Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski (North Atlantic Books)

Nonfiction:

• Rachel Matlow, Dead Mom Walking (Penguin Random House Canada)
• Rick Salutin and Gideon Salutin, illustrated by Dušan Petričić, Gideon’s Bible: A Father and Son Discuss God, the Bible, and Life (ECW Press)
• Myriam Steinberg, illustrations by Christache, Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of (In)fertility (Page Two Books)

Young Adult/Children's Literature:

• Michelle Barker, My Long List of Impossible Things (Annick Press)
• Helaine Becker, illustrated by Kari Rust, Emmy Noether: The Most Important Mathematician You’ve Never Heard Of (Kids Can Press)
• Gordon Korman, War Stories (Scholastic Canada)

Stay tuned for more information about literary prizes throughout the season on Open Book.