Toronto's Kevin Hardcastle wins $20K Trillium Book Award

Toronto author Kevin Hardcastle has won the $20,000 Trillium Book Award in English-language for his debut short story collection,Debris.

The Trillium Book Award was founded by the Ontario government in 1987 to support Ontario writers. Past winners of the prestigious prize include Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Austin Clarke and Thomas King.

Hardcastle'sDebrisis a collection of 11 stories set in isolated communities across Canada and delves into the inner lives of the marginalized members of those societies. It was nominated this year for theKobo Emerging Writer Prizeand theDanuta Gleed Literary Award.

Hardcastle's publisher, Windsor, Ontario-based press Biblioasis, will receive $2,500. It's the indie publisher's first Trillium Book Award win.

Soraya Peerbaye won the $10,000 Trillium Book Award for Poetry in English with her collection,Tell: poems for a girlhood. The collection is about the violent murder of B.C. teenager Reena Virk in 1997.

Peerbaye was also a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, which was won by Liz Howard forInfinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent.

Pedlar Press, the publisher ofTell, will receive a $2,000 award.

Find out more about the French language winnershere.