The shortlist has been released for the C$60,000 (about US$47,670) Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, which recognizes writers of exceptional talent for the best novel or short story collection of the year. The award is named in honor of Writers' Trust of Canada co-founders Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson, who started the organization in 1976 "with the help of a few fellow writers and an aim to encourage a Canadian literary culture at home." The winner will be announced November 3 at the digital Writers' Trust Awards. This year's finalists, who each receive C$5,000 (US$3,970), are:
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
We Want What We Want by Alix Ohlin
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
August into Winter by Guy Vanderhaeghe
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette