David Chariandy is the winner of the 2018 Toronto Book Award for his novel Brother, published by McClelland & Stewart. The announcement was made Wednesday evening at an awards ceremony held at the Toronto Reference Library.
“Congratulations to Mr. Chariandy and to all of the finalists for inspiring us with their creative visions of our city,” said the Mayor of Toronto.
“David Chariandy’s book is one that continues to garner attention and awards – and no wonder,” said Vickery Bowles, the City Librarian. “It’s such a rich and moving portrait of a young family trying to survive in a changing city – and all of Toronto has been talking about it! We are incredibly proud of David for this beautiful novel and for this award.”
Chariandy’s novel was chosen from a list of finalists that also included these four books:
• Dionne Brand-curated “The Unpublished City” published by BookThug
• Carrianne Leung’s “That Time I Loved You” published by Harper Collins
• Lee Maracle’s “My Conversations with Canadians” published by BookThug
• Kerri Sakamoto’s “Floating City” published by Knopf Canada
Commenting on the winning novel, the jury said, “In a near flawless piece of writing, David Chariandy brings readers to a story that may very well feel both foreign and familiar. Brother is a lean masterwork driven by spare, painstakingly-crafted prose. No word is wasted and every word leaves a mark. This book has become part of the Toronto literary canon, and should reside there for ages.”
Chariandy grew up in Toronto and now lives and teaches in Vancouver. His debut novel, Soucouyant, received reviews and recognition from 11 literary award juries, including a Governor General’s Literary Award shortlisting, a Gold Independent Publisher Award for Best Novel, and a Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Brother, his second novel, published in 2017, has also won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and was named to the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist.
More information about the author and his works, including a 2018 memoir that examines Chariandy’s family story and experiences as the son of Black and South Asian immigrants from Trinidad, is available at https://bit.ly/2NvQd1t.
This is the 44th year of the Toronto Book Awards. The annual awards offer $15,000 in prize money. Each shortlisted finalist will receive $1,000, with $10,000 going to the winner. This year’s Toronto Book Awards Committee is composed of volunteer members Nathan Adler, Susan G. Cole, Kevin Hardcastle, Soraya Peerbaye and Itah Sadu.
More information about the awards is available at http://www.toronto.ca/book_awards and on Twitter at @TOBookAwards and #tobookawards. The Toronto Star is the Toronto Book Awards’ media sponsor.
This news release is also available on the City’s website: https://bit.ly/2yvcreE
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