Kevin Lambert & Saeed Teebi among 5 finalists for $60K Atwood Gibson Prize for Canada's top fiction

Quebec writer Kevin Lambert and Toronto authorSaeed Teebiare two of the finalists forthe 2022Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

The $60,000 award recognizesthe best novel or short story collection published in Canada.

Lambert is a finalist for his novelQuerelle of Roberval.

Teebiis nominated for his short story collectionHer First Palestinian.

The other three finalists are Montreal's Rima Elkourifor thenovelManam, P.E.I. writerNicholas Herring for his debut novelSome Hellish, and Albertan Darcy Tamayosefor the collectionEzra's Ghosts.

This year's five finalists are selected by the jury from 132 titles submitted by 70 publishing imprints. The jury is composed of Canadian fiction writersDavid Bergen,Norma DunningandAndrew Forbes.

Dunning is also a jury member for the 2023 CBC Short Story Prize.

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Each finalist will receive$5,000. Translators receive a portion of the prize money. Two of the books on the shortlisted were translated from French into English:David Winkler translated Lambert'sQuerelle of Roberval, while the translation team ofPhyllis AronoffandHoward Scott translated Elkouri'sManam.

The winner will be announced at an in-person ceremony on Nov. 2, 2022.

Renamed in 2021, the Atwood GibsonPrizehonoursCanadian literary icons Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, two of the five co-founders of Writers' Trust of Canada.

The Writers' Trust of Canada is an organization that supports Canadian writers through literary awards, fellowships, financial grants, mentorships and more.

It alsogives out sevenprizes inrecognition ofthe year's best in fiction, nonfiction and short story, as well as mid-career and lifetime achievement awards.

The annual fiction prize has been awarded since 1997. Last year's winner was Strangers by Katherine Vermette.

Other past winners includeAustin Clarke, Alice Munro, Lawrence Hill,Miriam Toews, Emma Donoghue,Andr Alexis,David Chariandy and Gil Adamson.

Get to know the five finalists for the 2022Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prizebelow.

Querelle of RobervalbyKevin Lambert, translated by Donald Winkler

Querelle of Robervalis a novel set in Quebec involving a young person named Querellewho moves to thenorthern lumber town of Robervaland sets off a chain of events involving sex, passion and violence. Robervalis in the middle of a millworkers' strike and Querelle's carnalinvolvement with some of the young men in the small town fuels tensions among all involved.

"A profane, funny, bleak, touching, playful, and outrageous satire of sexual politics, labourand capitalism," the jury said in a statement. "Lambert's novel gleefully illuminates both the broad socio-political tensions of life in a Quebec company town and the intimate details of sex, lust, loneliness, and gay relationships in such a place."

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Kevin Lambertis a writer from Quebec.You Will Love What You Have Killedis his first novel, and the first to be translated into English.

Donald Winkler is a filmmaker and translator from Montreal. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation forThe Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby-BoomersbyFranois Ricard, Partita for Glenn Gouldby Georges Leroux andThe Major VerbsbyPierre Nepveu. Two books he hastranslated have been finalists for the Scotiabank Giller Prize:A Secret Between UsbyDaniel Poliquin in 2007 andArvidabySamuel Archibald in 2015.

Her First PalestinianbySaeed Teebi

Her First Palestinianis a collection of short stories revolving around thePalestinian immigrant experiencein Canada. Thestories explorethemes of identity, loss, power and belonging as they look at the diverse and layered experiences of thePalestinian diaspora. The titular story inHer First Palestinianwas shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize.

"Teebi coaxes the reader in a certain direction, and then flips the narrative so that now we are complicit, and we see our own guilt in the great divide that exists between the privileged and the stranger," jurors commented in a statement."He does this with subtle humour and a wry tone. He is a vital voice."

• Read the short storyHer First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi

Saeed Teebi is a writer and lawyer based in Toronto. He was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait and, after some time in the U.S., has lived in Canada since 1993. His writing frequently engages the immigrant experience and his Palestinian background.

Q22:37Saeed Teebi on his debut story collection Her First Palestinian

In his debut story collection, Her First Palestinian, Saeed Teebi shines a light on the varied experiences of Palestinian Canadian characters navigating their way through life in their new home country. He joined Tom Power to tell us more.

Some HellishbyNicholas Herring

Some Hellishis about a lobster fish named Herring who is facing the existential dread of what he feels is a boring, mundane life. That is, until one December day when he decides to cut a hole in the living room floor and alter the course of his life ashe knows it. Througha myriad of absurd and confronting experiences, including his wife and children leaving him, Tibetan monks rescuing him afteranear-death experience, Herring is forced to reckon with himself, his fear and what it means to be alive.

"With a deep knowledge of the Island and a passion for the language of work, Herring's voice is droll and philosophical, ribald and poetic," said the jury in a statement. "The age-old story of humans versus nature finds a fresh cadence as Herring trawls the seas for body and soul."

Nicholas Herring is a writer and carpenter fromMurray Harbour, P.E.I.Some Hellishis his debut novel. His writing has also appearedin thePuritanand theFiddlehead.

Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose

Ezra's Ghostsis a collection of imaginative stories set in a quiet prairie town called Ezra. Linked by place and themes of grief, language and culture, each story features a different character dealing with fantastical circumstances:one character is trapped in town following her death, forced to watch her family and killer continue on without her while another story sees the oldest man in town sprout wings.

"Each story in Ezra's Ghostsis unique and allows us to see life from beyond, exploring the aspects of grief from those who have moved on. Each character is placed inside our hearts, connecting us to the spirit of their loved one," said the jury in a statement. "Tamayose writes on 'the significance of the sacred,' treading on the possibility of even more life and purpose in the afterlife."

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Darcy Tamayose is a writer and graphic designer from southern Alberta. Her work includes the novelOdori, which received the Canada-Japan Literary Award, and the YA bookKatie Be Quiet. Tamayose lives in Lethbridge, Alta.

Manamby Rima Elkouri, translated by Phyllis Aronoff &Howard Scott

Manamfollows main character Laas, fuelledby her grandmother's refusal to divulge an important family story,she travels to her ancestral village, Manam, in Turkey to uncover her family's past. Helped by a Kurdish filmmaker and guide,Lalearns that during the Armenian genocide, nearly the entire population of the village were killed or flex to exile in Syria, which, forLa,begs the question: How did her grandmother and her family survive?

"Elkouri approaches the reality of war with words that commemorate the life of her Teta," jurors commented. "Her work fulfills the curiosity we carry of our ancestors and is a reminder to all of us to honour their lives and, more importantly, to never forget them."

Rima Elkouri is a journalist and columnist from Montreal, where she currently writes forLa Presse.Manamis her debut novel.

Phyllis AronoffandHoward Scott are a translation team from Montreal. They have also translated Edem Awumey'snovelDescent Into Night,whichwon the2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation.