Toronto-set Brother, in running for Giller, makes Rogers fiction prize short list

TORONTO — The accolades continue for Canadian author David Chariandy and his novel Brother.

The Toronto-born writer’s second book, which is already in contention for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, has also been shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

Brother (McClelland & Stewart) is set in a Toronto housing complex and tells the story of two brothers as they confront prejudice and violence in their neighbourhood during the summer of 1991. The novel had been included on the Giller long list.

The Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize honours the year’s best Canadian novel or short story collection.

Also nominated are Omar El Akkad’s futuristic American War (McClelland & Stewart), Claire Cameron’s science- and gender-focused The Last Neanderthal (Doubleday Canada), Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s This Accident of Being Lost (House of Anansi Press), which incorporates Nishnaabeg storytelling, narrative and poetry, and Carleigh Baker’s short-story collection Bad Endings (Anvil Press).

The Writers’ Trust announced Tuesday that it will double its prize money. The winner will receive $50,000, while each finalist will get $5,000.

To determine the list, a jury including Michael Christie, Christy Ann Conlin and Tracey Lindberg read a total of 141 books submitted by 67 publishers.

Past winners of the prize include Alice Munro, Lawrence Hill and Andre Alexis. Last year’s honour went to Yasuko Thanh for her novel Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains. The winner will be announced Nov. 14 in Toronto. The fiction prize has been sponsored by Rogers Communications since its inception in 1997.