Ottawa Book Awards

***Winner***

Vixen

by Sandra Ridley
Book*hug Press

Vixen propels us to examine the nature of empathy, what it means to be a compassionate witness, and what happens when brutality is so ever-present that we become numb. This is a beautiful, difficult, wild tapestry of defiance and survival.

Sandra Ridley is the author of several books of poetry. Ridley has taught at Sage Hill Writing, Carleton University, and has been a mentor with Ottawa's Supportive Housing and Mental Health Services "Footprints to Recovery" program. Sandra grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan and lives in Ottawa.

Jury Statement for Vixen: Ridley creates a visceral sense of what it is for a woman to be hunted without mercy. Mysterious and seductively rhythmic opening lines create intimacy and draw on language from across centuries to build increasingly ominous portents of violence, portents realized from fox-hunt diaries of the 15th to 18th centuries and an inventory of archaic hunters’ names and descriptions of their (always female) prey. Layered texts of contemporary legal commonplaces embody the obstacles women face in seeking safety or recourse. Vixen is accomplished, innovative, deeply moving and unforgettable.

The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories

by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia
ECW Press

Infused with keen insight and presented in startling prose, the stories in this dark, magnetic collection by newcomer Rebecca Hirsch Garcia invite the reader into an uncanny world out of step with reality while exploring the personal and interpersonal in a way that is undeniably, distinctly human.

Rebecca Hirsch Garcia lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She is an O. Henry Prize–winning author whose work has been published in the Threepenny Review, PRISM international, The Dark, and elsewhere. The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories is her debut collection.

Elementary Particles

by Sneha Madhavan-Reese,
Brick Books 

Part family history, part scientific exploration, Elementary Particles examines the world through the lens of a daughter grieving the loss of her beloved father.

Sneha Madhavan-Reese was born in Detroit and now lives with her family in Ottawa. Her writing has appeared in publications around the world, was shortlisted for the 2015 Montreal International Poetry Prize, and received an honourable mention at the 2018 National Magazine Awards.

The Family Code

by Wayne Ng
Guernica Editions Inc

Every family has rituals and routines holding them together. Sometimes they are the very things tearing them apart. THE FAMILY CODE is a gritty family drama featuring the troubled life of Hannah Belenko, a single mother dogged by the brutality of past traumas and a code of silence that she must crack in order to be free—or else lose everything.

Wayne Ng was born in downtown Toronto to Chinese immigrants who fed him a steady diet of bitter melons and kung fu movies. Ng is a social worker who lives to write, travel, eat and play. He is an award-winning author who lives in Ottawa with his wife and goldfish.

An Unruly Little Animal

by Scott Randall,
DC Books

A poignant, humorous coming-of-age story, in the morning, fifth grader Darby must deliver a pair-presentation with classmate Jennie Phelps-Christianson, and in the afternoon, he must endure a class visit and career-talk on mechanical engineering from his recently estranged father. Complications intensify, culminate in a classroom scuffle, and result in a better understanding of his mom, mechanical engineering, sex, and violence.

Scott Randall has previously published three collections: And To Say Hello (2015 Ottawa Book Award for fiction), Character Actor, and Last Chance to Renew. He holds MA, MFA, and PhD degrees in Literature and Creative Writing and has taught writing at Seneca College, York University, Concordia University, and Algonquin College.

***Winner***

Deux heures avant la fin de l’été

Sébastien Pierroz
Les Éditions David

Damien, a London-based Greenpeace employee, returns to France for his grandfather’s funeral in Mongy. Since the hot summer of 1976, the Savoyard village where he grew up has been scarred by the murder of a young girl, Claudia Campana, at the hands of an Algerian immigrant. However, Damien is determined to clear up any lingering doubts about the circumstances of the murder.

A proud Franco-Ontarian originally from Annecy in the French Alps, Sébastien Pierroz is the producer of TFO’s ONFR franchise. A journalist by trade, he is also a columnist for the Le Droit newspaper and an author of Les Éditions David.

Jury Statement for Deux heures avant la fin de l’été: In this captivating novel, Damien, a reclusive character living abroad, returns home in an attempt to unearth the secrets of his village and his family, resolving a longstanding enigma that has haunted him for years. Masterfully written and ambitiously structured, the novel tackles topical issues such as racism and the perverse effects of globalization. By combining realism, social issues and the nuanced psychology of his characters, this author has produced an excellent, thought-provoking novel.

Prise Deux

by Pierre-Luc Bélanger
Les Éditions David

When lightning strikes, it hits hard! After meeting at a circus camp, Zoé and Darius find their lives changed forever. Zoé is working on a Canadian horse ranch when she gets her second wind.

Pierre-Luc Bélanger has been publishing young adult novels for the past decade. He enjoys breathing life into daring characters who live out their adventures in Canada and abroad. His work has earned him numerous accolades and awards. Pierre-Luc is an avid reader, skier and traveller.

Jaz

by Michèle Vinet
Les Éditions L’Interligne

Unable to grieve, a man paints to forget his pain. To take advantage of his talent, the local innkeeper invites him to hang some paintings in his establishment. When the painter is asked to put on a real art exhibition, a young woman comes and disrupts everything. In this exciting novel, art and love attempt to unravel the mystery of life.

Michèle Vinet has published four novels (Prise de parole, L'Interligne), which have received nine nominations and four literary awards: a Trillium Award (Ontario), the Émile-Ollivier award (Conseil supérieur de la langue française, Quebec), the Le Droit’s literary award (Ottawa) and the Ottawa Book Award (2022).

***Winner***

Agent of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism

by Huda Mukbil
McGill-Queens University Press

As the first Black Arab-Canadian Muslim woman to join CSIS at the forefront of the fight against terrorism after 9/11, Mukbil provides an eye-opening account of how racism, misogyny, and Islamophobia undermine not only individuals, but institutions and the national interest - and how addressing this openly can tackle populism and misinformation.

Huda Mukbil, is an international security consultant and political activist. She lives in Ottawa.

Jury statement for Agent of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism: A quintessential Ottawa story, Huda Mukbil’s journey with CSIS begins when she’s hired to fill a gap in the agency's Arab and Middle East desk—only to be "othered" when she starts wearing a hijab. Despite her exceptional work for CSIS, British Intelligence, and missions she can't reveal, she faces an "old boy's club" mentality. From her experience of discrimination on an Ottawa bus to her role in a class action lawsuit against CSIS, Mukbil tells her story with a powerful mix of raw emotion and precise critique that exposes the failings of Official Ottawa.

Keep My Memory Safe: Fook Soo Am, The Pagoda

by Stephanie Chitpin
Baraka Books

Stephanie Chitpin was born in Hong Kong to unwed parents. A few days later, an infant girl in a woven straw basket was transported illegally to the island of Mauritius where she was raised in a Buddhist temple. Despite all odds, Stephanie is now a topnotch academic at the University of Ottawa. This is her poetic and beautiful story.

Dr. Stephanie Chitpin is a Full Professor of Leadership at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa. Recipient of the 2020 Research Excellence Award at the University of Ottawa, she has authored over 100 articles and several books on leadership and professional development of educators. Stephanie Chitpin lives in Ottawa.

Wine Witch on Fire: Rising From the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much

by Natalie MacLean
Dundurn Press

Wine Witch on Fire: Rising From the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much.

A world-famous wine writer’s quest to clear her name after an onslaught of sexist online attacks and find love after the sudden crumbling of her twenty-year marriage. Natalie MacLean’s experience reveals truths about online mobbing and the male dominance at the heart of the wine industry. This is an inspiring story of resilience and hope.

Outsider: An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past

by Brett Popplewell
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The true story of a marathon-running hermit and a journalist’s quest to solve the mystery of the enigmatic man’s existence. The book chronicles how a child born under mysterious circumstances finds his way onto the big screen, is heralded as the world’s first extreme skier, and is later driven into the wilderness.

Brett Popplewell is a bestselling author and associate professor of journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa. He has written for Bloomberg Businessweek, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and The Walrus and has won multiple National Magazine Awards in Canada.

Clara at the Door with a Revolver

by Carolyn Whitzman
University of British Columbia Press

Carolyn Whitzman tells the compelling story of a courageous Black woman living in nineteenth-century Toronto and paints a portrait of a city and a society that have not changed enough in 125 years.

Carolyn Whitzman is a writer and researcher who lives in Ottawa. She is the author of Suburb, Slum, Urban Village: Transformations in Parkdale, Toronto 1875–2000. She was living in Parkdale when she stumbled upon Clara Ford’s story and has remained fascinated with it for more than two decades.