The Writers' Trust of Canada announced that Renato Gandia (poetry), Graham Slaughter (creative nonfiction), and Julia Cottrelle (short fiction) are the winners of this year's RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, which was established in memory of poet and short story writer Bronwen Wallace and "has a proven track record of helping talented developing authors secure their first book deal." Each winning author receives C$10,000 (about US$7,230).
Gandia won for his poetry collection Psalmody for the Estranged, which the jury noted "reminds us of the affinity between prayer and poetry. These poems appeal to our basic needs to belong, to experience awe, to be seen, and to be accepted. They are alchemical and spellbinding in the way they transform small, quiet moments--a turn of phrase, a partner's touch, familiar objects, a domestic routine--into moments of sacred encounter."
Slaughter won for his book The Perfect Home For Your Child, which the jurors said "brings equal measures of acuity and empathy to its story of a would-be adoptive couple as they wait for a prospective birth mother to decide if she will keep her child.... Slaughter offers an intimate perspective on byzantine regulations, daunting financial barriers, and the complicated bonds between strangers amid emotional tumult."
Cottrelle won for her short story collection The Old Turtle Climb, of which the jury said: "Just as a bumblebee seems to defy the laws of physics every time it takes flight, so too does Julia Cottrelle's quietly devastating story 'The Old Turtle Climb' carry such emotional and thematic weight as to risk failure, which is the mark of true artistry.... This is a haunting and authentic depiction of a wounded soul attempting to live through a deep hurt."