Writers' Trust of Canada

Grateful to our friend Irfhan Rawji and Mobsquad for hosting 2025 #ShaughnessyCohen Prize winner Raymond Blake in Calgary last night. It was a fascinating conversation about what prime ministerial speech reveals about our nation’s identity. #WT50

Which Canadian crime thriller does @elamin.bsky.social think you should read? In our new series notable Canadian writers share the books, authors, and experiences that shaped them and our country. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

Why does @elamin.bsky.social think you should read more Canadian? Find out in our series where notable Canadian writers share the books, authors, and experiences that shape them and our country. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

What does it mean to @elamin.bsky.social to be Canadian? Find out in our series where notable Canadian writers share the books, authors, and experiences that shape them and our country. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

Applications are open for the 2026 #BertonHouse Writers’ Residency. Canadian authors with at least one published book are invited to apply before March 30, 2026. Travel costs are covered by WT & residents receive a $4K stipend. Find full details at writerstrust.com/BertonHouse

Which Canadian book made Ann-Marie MacDonald want to be a writer? Find out in our new series where celebrated Canadian writers share the books and authors that shape them and our country. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

Nancy Flight, founder and supporter of the $25,000 #NancyFlight Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Editing.

writerstrust.com/NancyFlight

@greystonebooks.bsky.social #WT50

With an editing career spanning 45 years, Nancy Flight has worked with authors like David Suzuki, Evelyn Lau, and Wade Davis to produce excellent nonfiction books. More on the founder and supporter of the new #NancyFlight Prize here: writerstrust.com/NancyFlight

Introducing the $25K #NancyFlight Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Editing. The award celebrates editorial excellence & highlights the vital role editors play in shaping a manuscript. The inaugural winner will be named at the #WTAwards in November 2026. writerstrust.com/NancyFlight

Which national poet does Ann-Marie MacDonald think every Canadian should read? Find out in our new series where celebrated Canadian writers share the books and authors that shape them and our country. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

Which national bestseller does author and playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald think every Canadian should read? Find out in our new series where celebrated Canadian writers share the books that shaped them. Join us in celebrating 50 years of Canadian literature. From writers, to readers. #WT50

Recapping the 2026 Writers’ Trust Storytellers Ball. Thank you to all our supporters 🍁📚

Thank you to all of our supporters of the 2026 Storytellers Ball. WT is deeply grateful for your commitment to supporting and celebrating Canadian writers and their work, and we look forward to welcoming you at future WT events.

WT’s Board of Directors funds the #WTFellowhsip, which will identify writers with meaningful contributions to Canada’s literary landscape & their promise of more. A jury comprising Esi Edugyan, Charlotte Gray, and Wayne Johnston selected the 2026 winner. writerstrust.com/WTFellowship

Anne-Marie Turza is the inaugural winner of the Writers’ Trust Board Fellowship. The #WTFellowship rewards one writer annually with $50K and a residency at the @banffcentre.bsky.social for Arts and Creativity. Turza’s win marks the start of WT’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Beginning today and throughout the year, we will be sharing special announcements, events, and more. Join us as we look towards the next golden age of Canadian literature. #WT50

WT was founded in 1976 by writers Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young, with a goal to make Canada the best place in the world to be a writer. Fifty years later, the organization is Canada’s leading charity for Canadian writers and writing.

2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Writers’ Trust of Canada. For fifty years, we’ve supported Canadian writers across genres and at every stage of their career.

On behalf of everyone on our Writers’ Trust board and staff, we send our deepest condolences to Hal’s family and many friends in the world of Canadian letters.

We’re grateful to Hal for his contributions as a member of our Board of Directors and, most recently, as a member of the selection committee for the Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of the Writing Life.

Hal Wake was committed to improving the lives of Canadian writers for 40 years through his work at Vancouver Writers’ Fest and as a volunteer for many literary organizations including ours.

The Balsillie Prize is supported by the Balsillie Family Foundation as part of a $3 million commitment to supporting Canadian literature through Writers’ Trust. For mor information about the prize and winner visit writerstrust.com/BalsilliePrize

Congratulations to @vincebeiser.bsky.social, winner of the 2025 #BalsilliePrize for Public Policy for his book Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future. Beiser was selected by a jury composed of Samantha Nutt, Taki Sarantakis & Scott Young.

Maria Reva is the 2025 winner of the $70,000 #AtwoodGibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for Endling, published by Knopf Canada. This year's prize purse is increased from $60,000 to $70,000 this year with generous support from the Balsillie Family Foundation. #WTAwards #canlit

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson @biidaasamose.bsky.social wins the $75K #HilaryWeston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction for Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, published by Alchemy by Knopf Canada. The prize is supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. #WTAwards #canlit

The $12K #DayneOgilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers goes to... Roza Nozari for All the Parts We Exile! The prize was founded by Robin Pacific and is supported by the Dayne Ogilvie Endowment Fund, Anuja Varghese, and the Writers’ Trust Prize Fund. Published by Knopf Canada. #WTAwards #canlit

Congratulations to Sheree Fitch, winner of the $40,000 #MattCohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life. #WTAwards #canlit Thank you to Lorraine Greey for her continuous support of this prize.

Julie Flett wins the $40,000 #VickyMetcalf Award for Literature for Young People. Writers’ Trust is extremely grateful to the Metcalf Foundation for generously increasing their longstanding commitment to this award and the Book to Schools program. #WTAwards #canlit

Congratulations to Kim Thúy, winner of the the $25,000 Writers’ Trust #EngelFindley Award, supported by the Estate of Timothy Findley and the Writers’ Trust prize fund. #WTAwards #canlit

Bren Simmers wins the $60,000 #LatnerGriffin Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize, supported by The Albert and Temmy Latner Family Foundation and Scott Griffin. Congratulations! #WTAwards #canlit