Kai Cheng Thom (Jackson Ezra)

The Writers’ Trust of Canada has announced the three finalists for this year’s Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers. The $4,000 award is presented to a promising writer who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.

The 2017 finalists include: Ali Blythe, the Vancouver-based editor-in-chief of The Claremont Review and author of the poetry collection Twoism (icehouse poetry/Goose Lane Editions); Eva Crocker, of St. John’s, Newfoundland, author of the short-story collection Barrelling Forward (Astoria/House of Anansi Press); and Kai Cheng Thom, a writer, performance artist, and psychotherapist based in Toronto.

The winner of this year’s award will be announced on June 3 in Vancouver.