Trillium Book Award facts for kids

The Trillium Book Award (French: Prix littéraire Trillium or Prix Trillium) is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is overseen by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. The monetary component for the award includes amounts paid to the author of the book and to the publisher of the book. The award has been expanded several times since its establishment in 1987: a separate award for French-language literature was added in 1994, an award for poetry in each language was added in 2003, and an award for French-language children's literature was added in 2006.

Awards and eligibility

The Trillium Award is open to books in any genre: fiction, non-fiction, drama, children's books, and poetry. Anthologies, new editions, re-issues and translations are not eligible. Electronic and self-published books are also ineligible. Three jury members per language judge the submissions, select the shortlist and the winning title. The jury is composed of writers and other members of the literary community.

Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have lived in Ontario for at least three out of the past five years and who have been published anywhere in the world are eligible. Their publishers are invited to submit titles to the Ministry of Culture for consideration. In 1993 the award was expanded by Premier Bob Rae's government to also include a French-language category; it was first awarded in 1994.

In 2003, new English and French poetry categories were added to the awards. The following year, however, due to the smaller number of French-language titles published in Ontario there were not enough French poetry submissions to present an award; accordingly, the French section is now divided into poetry and children's literature awards presented in alternating years, with each award having an eligibility period of two years rather than one. The English poetry award continues to be presented yearly, and an English children's literature award is not presented; however, English children's books are eligible to be nominated for the English fiction award.

Winners

• 1987 - Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
• 1988 - Timothy Findley, Stones
• 1989 - Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring
• 1990 - Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• 1991 - Margaret Atwood, Wilderness Tips
• 1992 - Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
• 1993 - Jane Urquhart, Away and Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride
• 1994
  • English - Donald Harman Akenson, Conor: A Biography of Conor Cruise O'Brien; Volume 1 Narrative
  • French - Andrée Lacelle, Tant de vie s'égare
• 1995
  • English - Margaret Atwood, Morning in the Burned House and Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony
  • French - Maurice Henrie, Le Balcon dans le ciel
• 1996
  • English - Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
  • French - Nancy Vickers, Le Pied de Sappho and Alain Bernard Marchand, Tintin au pays de la ferveur
• 1997
  • English - Dionne Brand, Land to Light On
  • French - Roger Levac, Petite Crapaude!
• 1998
  • English - André Alexis, Childhood and Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman
  • French - Daniel Poliquin, L'homme de paille and Stefan Psenak, Du chaos et de l'ordre des choses
• 1999
  • English - Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief
  • French - Andrée Christensen and Jacques Flamand, Lithochronos ou le premier vol de la pierre
• 2000
  • English - Don Coles, Kurgan
  • French - Didier Leclair, Toronto, je t'aime
• 2001
  • English - Richard B. Wright, Clara Callan
  • French - Michèle Matteau, Cognac et Porto
• 2002
  • English - Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe and Nino Ricci, Testament
  • French - Michel Ouellette, Le testament du couturier and Éric Charlebois, Faux-fuyants
• 2003
  • English - Thomas King, The Truth About Stories
  • English (Poetry) - Adam Sol, Crowd of Sounds
  • French - Serge Denis, Social-démocratie et mouvements ouvriers and François Paré, La distance habitée
  • French (Poetry) - Angèle Bassolé-Ouédraogo, Avec tes mots
• 2004
  • English - Wayson Choy, All That Matters
  • English (Poetry) - Maureen Scott Harris, Drowning Lessons
  • French - Antonio D'Alfonso, Un vendredi du mois d'aout
  • French (Poetry) - there was no prize given this year, as there were fewer than 5 submissions. The prize money is being used to create a scholarship for French-language emerging poets.
• 2005
  • English - Camilla Gibb, Sweetness in the Belly
  • English (Poetry) - Kevin Connolly, drift
  • French - Jean Mohsen Fahmy, L'Agonie des dieux
  • French (Poetry) - Éric Charlebois, Centrifuge
• 2006
  • English - Mark Frutkin, Fabrizio's Return
  • English (Poetry) - Ken Babstock, Airstream Land Yacht
  • French - Paul Savoie, Crac and Daniel Castillo Durante, La Passion des nomades
  • French (Children's) - Françoise Lepage, Poupeska
• 2007
  • English - Barbara Gowdy, Helpless
  • English (Poetry) - Rachel Zolf, Human Resources
  • French - Pierre Raphaël Pelletier, L'Oeil de la lumière
  • French (Poetry) - Tina Charlebois, Poils lisses
• 2008
  • English - Pasha Malla, The Withdrawal Method
  • English (Poetry) - Jeramy Dodds, Crabwise to the Hounds
  • French - Marguerite Andersen, Le Figuier sur le toit
  • French (Children's) - Paul Prud’Homme, Les Rebuts: Hockey 2
• 2009
  • English - Ian Brown, The Boy in the Moon
  • English (Poetry) - Karen Solie, Pigeon
  • French - Ryad Assani-Razaki, Deux Cercles
  • French (Poetry) - Michèle Matteau, Passerelles
• 2010
  • English - Rabindranath Maharaj, The Amazing Absorbing Boy
  • English (Poetry) - Jeff Latosik, Tiny, Frantic, Stronger
  • French - Estelle Beauchamp, Un souffle venu de loin
  • French (Children's) - Daniel Marchildon, La première guerre de Toronto
• 2011
  • English - Phil Hall, Killdeer
  • English (Poetry) - Nick Thran, Earworm
  • French - Michèle Vinet, Jeudi Novembre
  • French (Poetry) - Sonia Lamontagne, À tire d’ailes
• 2012
  • English - Alice Munro, Dear Life
  • English (Poetry) - Matthew Tierney, Probably Inevitable
  • French - Paul Savoie, Bleu bemol
  • French (Children's) - Claude Forand, Un moine trop bavard
• 2013
  • English - Hannah Moscovitch, This Is War
  • English Poetry - Souvankham Thammavongsa, Light
  • French - Marguerite Andersen, La mauvaise mère
  • French Poetry - Daniel Groleau Landry, Rêver au réel
• 2014
  • English - Kate Cayley, How You Were Born
  • English Poetry - Brecken Hancock, Broom Broom
  • French - Micheline Marchand, Mauvaise mine
  • French (Children) - Michel Dallaire, Violoncelle pour lune d’automne
• 2015
  • English - Kevin Hardcastle, Debris
  • English Poetry - Soraya Peerbaye, Tell
  • French - Véronique-Marie Kaye, Marjorie Chalifoux
  • French (Poetry) - David Ménard, Neuvaines
• 2016
  • English - Melanie Mah, The Sweetest One
  • English Poetry - Meaghan Strimas, Yes or Nope
  • French - Jean Boisjoli, La Mésure du temps
  • French (Children) - Pierre-Luc Belanger, Ski, Blanche et Avalanche
• 2017
  • English - Kyo Maclear, Birds Art Life
  • English Poetry - Pino Coluccio, Class Clown
  • French - Aurélie Resch, Sous le soleil de midi
  • French Poetry - Sylvie Bérard, Oubliez
• 2018
  • English - Dionne Brand, The Blue Clerk
  • English Poetry - Robin Richardson, Sit How You Want
  • French - Lisa L'Heureux, Et si un soir
  • French (Children) - Diya Lim, La marchande, la sorcière, la lune et moi
• 2019
  • English - Téa Mutonji, Shut Up You're Pretty
  • English Poetry - Roxanna Bennett, Unmeaningable
  • French - Paul Ruban, Crevaison en corbillard
  • French Poetry - Véronique Sylvain, Premier quart