Toronto Book Awards shortlist announced

Make no mistake, literary award season has arrived. Along with yesterday’s Scotiabank Giller Prize and Man Booker Prize announcements, the finalists for the 2011 Toronto Book Awards were also released. The awards “honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto.”

This year’s shortlisted authors are:

• James FitzGerald, What Disturbs Our Blood (Random House Canada)
• James King, Étienne’s Alphabet (Cormorant Books)
• Rabindranath Maharaj, The Amazing Absorbing Boy (Knopf Canada)
• Nicholas Ruddock, The Parabolist (Doubleday Canada)
• Alissa York, Fauna (Random House Canada)

The total value of the annual prize is $15,000. Each finalist will receive $1,000, while the winner, who will be announced on Oct. 13, will receive the remaining $11,000.

Photos from the Toronto Book Awards shortlist announcement

The shortlist for the Toronto Book Awards was announced today. The shortlist is available here.

City Librarian Jane Pyper introducing Mayor David Miller

Mayor David Miller twitters  next to Austin Clarke, who is nominated for his novel, More. Miller seemed genuinely excited about his thousands of online followers.

From left to right: Anthony De Sa, Mark Osbaldeston, David Miller, Austin Clarke, Maggie Helwig, Charles Wilkins