The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Gleed family are pleased to announce the jury for the $10,000 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, Canada’s pre-eminent award for the best first Canadian collection of short fiction in the English language, now celebrating its 28th year.
This year’s jury comprises authors Francine Cunningham, Kim Fu, and D.A. Lockhart.
A short list will be announced in May 2025, with the winner and two finalists being named in June 2025. The winner receives $10,000 and each of the two finalists is awarded $1,000.
To be eligible, books must be first collections of short fiction written by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and published in Canada in the English language in the 2024 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2025. Eligible titles may be submitted by publishers according to submission guidelines available at writersunion.ca/danuta-gleed-literary-award.
ABOUT THE JURY
Francine Cunningham is an award-winning writer, artist, and educator who is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, and is also Métis, and has settler family roots stretching from as far away as Ireland and Belgium. Her debut book of poems On/Me (Caitlin Press) was nominated for the BC and Yukon Book Prize, the Indigenous Voices Award, and the Vancouver Book Award. Her debut book of short stories God Isn’t Here Today (Invisible Publishing) was longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, was a finalist for the 2023 Indigenous Voices Award, and won the 2023 ReLit Award. Her first children’s book What if bedtime didn’t exist (Annick Press) is out now and was selected as one of the 2024 TD Summer Reading Club books. She was also the 2023/2024 Writer in Residence at the University of Calgary.
Kim Fu is the author of two novels, a collection of poetry, and most recently, the story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, winner of the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Washington State Book Award, and the Pacific Northwest Book Award, as well as a finalist for the Giller Prize, the Ignyte Awards, the Shirley Jackson Awards, and the Saroyan International Prize. Stories in this collection have been selected for Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and Best of the Net, featured on LeVar Burton Reads and Selected Shorts, and optioned for television and film. Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, Granta, The Atlantic, BOMB, Hazlitt, and the TLS. Fu lives in Seattle.
D.A. Lockhart is the author of multiple collections of poetry and short fiction. His work has been shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award, Raymond Souster Award, Indiana Author’s Awards, First Nations Communities READ Award, and has been a finalist for the ReLit Award. His work has appeared widely throughout Turtle Island including, The Malahat Review, Grain, CV2, TriQuarterly, The Fiddlehead, ARC Poetry Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry, Best New Poetry from the Midwest, and Belt. Along the way his work has garnered numerous Pushcart Prize nominations, National Magazine Award nominations, and Best of the Net nominations. He is pùkuwànkoamimëns of the Moravian of the Thames First Nation (Eelūnaapèewii Lahkèewiit). Lockhart currently resides at Waawiiyaatanong where he is the publisher at Urban Farmhouse Press.
ABOUT THE AWARD
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 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. The Award was first given in 1998 for books published in 1997.
ABOUT THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA
The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. TWUC was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers. Now over 2,800 members strong, TWUC advocates on behalf of writers’ collective interests, and delivers value to members through advocacy, community, and information. TWUC believes in a thriving, diverse Canadian culture that values and supports writers.
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For additional information:
Siobhan O'Connor
Chief Operating Officer
The Writers’ Union of Canada
soconnor@writersunion.ca
Press inquiries:
John Degen, Chief Executive Officer
The Writers’ Union of Canada
jdegen@writersunion.ca
DATE: November 12, 2024
