Dayne Ogilvie Prize

Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers
Awarded forExceptional merit in work relating to LGBTQ literature in Canada
CountryCanada
Presented byWriters' Trust of Canada
First awarded2007
WebsiteDayne Ogilvie Prize

The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Originally presented as a general career achievement award for emerging writers that considered their overall body of work, since 2022 it has been presented to honor debut books.

It is one of two literary awards in Canada serving the LGBTQ community, alongside the Blue Metropolis Violet Prize for established writers.[1]

The award was originally established by artist Robin Pacific as the Dayne Ogilvie Grant in memory of Dayne Ogilvie, a book editor, writer, arts manager and former managing editor of Xtra![2] who died in October 2006.[3] The award was renamed from a grant to a prize in 2012.

Dayne Ogilvie Prize winners Farzana Doctor, Amber Dawn, Debra Anderson

Established in 2007, the CA$5,000 prize was not originally presented for a specific work,[4] although writers must have published at least one book of fiction or poetry to be eligible.[4] The winner was selected by an independent jury of three members, and presented annually; the presentation was normally in June, although the 2020 announcement was postponed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[5] In its early years the award was presented in conjunction with Pride Toronto,[4] although in later years it expanded to different venues and cities.[6]

Beginning in the prize's second year, the award introduced a preliminary shortlist of two or three writers. The writer or writers not selected as the final winner of the prize are presented with an Honour of Distinction, worth CA$500 if one writer is named or CA$250 each if two writers are named. Authors who are awarded the Honour of Distinction remain eligible for the primary award in future years,[4] although, to date, no writer who has been awarded an Honour of Distinction has subsequently been named the primary winner. In 2019, Casey Plett became the first Honour of Distinction recipient in the award's history to be re-nominated.[6]

In 2022, the Writers' Trust transitioned the award from a general "career achievement" award into a prize to honour specific (debut) books.[7] The award's scheduling has also been moved so that it no longer takes place in June as part of Pride Month, but in November at the same gala presentation as the other Writers' Trust awards.[8]

  1. ^ Peter Knegt, "Canadian LGBTQ literature is having a moment, and this Montreal festival is showcasing that". CBC Arts, April 18, 2018.
  2. ^ "Vancouver's Smith wins new prize for gay writers". CBC News, June 14, 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference cullen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d Dayne Ogilvie Grant at The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  5. ^ Ryan Porter, "Finalists announced for the 2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers". Quill & Quire, August 25, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Joelle Barron, Lindsay Nixon, Casey Plett named finalists for $5K LGBTQ emerging writers prize". CBC Books, May 7, 2019.
  7. ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Writers’ Trust announces finalists for 2022 Dayne Ogilvie Prize". Quill & Quire, August 24, 2022.
  8. ^ "Bilal Baig, francesca ekwuyasi, Matthew James Weigel finalists for $10K prize for emerging LGBTQ writers". CBC Books, August 24, 2022.