Five Canadian books are finalists for the 2025 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for nonfiction, a prestigious $75,000 award recognizing outstanding Canadian nonfiction literature. This prize stands as the most significant nonfiction award in Canada.
The shortlisted works include “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad, “The Snag” by Tessa McWatt, “The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse” by Vinh Nguyen, “Theory of Water” by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and “A Truce That Is Not Peace” by Miriam Toews. These selections cover a variety of topics, from navigating grief due to a loved one’s dementia progression to exploring the historical and cultural ties of Indigenous communities to water. These books were selected from a pool of 101 submissions by Canadian writers Matthew R. Morris, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, and Niigaan Sinclair.
Accessible versions of the shortlisted titles are available through the Centre of Equitable Library Access. Past winners of this prestigious award include Martha Baillie for “There is No Blue” in 2024 and Christina Sharpe for “Ordinary Notes” in 2023.
The Writers’ Trust of Canada, an organization dedicated to supporting Canadian writers through various initiatives, including literary awards and fellowships, administers this prize. The winner of the 2025 Hilary Weston Prize for nonfiction will be unveiled at the Writers’ Trust awards gala on November 13 in Toronto.
For those interested in literary awards, the CBC Short Story Prize for 2026 is open for submissions between September 1 and November 1. This competition offers a chance to win $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and publication on CBC Books.