The Danuta Gleed Literary Award was created as a celebration of the life of Danuta Gleed, a writer whose short fiction won several awards before her death in December 1996. Danuta Gleed’s first collection of short fiction, One of the Chosen, was posthumously published by BuschekBooks. The award is made possible through a generous donation from John Gleed, in memory of his late wife, and is administered by The Writers’ Union of Canada.

Each year, a $10,000 prize is awarded to a Canadian writer for the best first collection of published short fiction in the English language. Two finalists are also awarded $1,000 each.

The Union is pleased to announce the short list of nominees for the 27th annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award:

Lisa Alward, Cocktail (Biblioasis)  
Paola Ferrante, Her Body Among Animals (Book*hug Press) 
Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories (ECW Press)  
Kathryn Mockler, Anecdotes (Book*hug Press)  
Idman Nur Omar, The Private Apartments (House of Anansi Press)

The jury this year comprised authors Danila Botha, paulo da costa, and Souvankham Thammavongsa, who determined the short list from 28 collections submitted, some by seasoned writers, others by authors being published for the first time. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2024, 12:00 pm EDT on TWUC's Facebook Live. Read the full announcement with comments from the jury here.

Danuta Gleed Literary Award Winners