HarperCollinsCanada announced today the creation of a new annual writing prize: the HarperCollinsCanada/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction.
This prize is a collaboration of HarperCollinsCanada, The Cooke Agency and the University of British Columbia and is open to currently enrolled students and previous graduates of the UBC Creative Writing Program. The annual winner of the prize will be offered literary representation by The Cooke Agency, and an advance and a contract to publish by HarperCollinsCanada.
“This is a truly exciting endeavour,” said Iris Tupholme, Executive Publisher, Vice President and Editor-in- Chief at HarperCollinsCanada. “It reflects HarperCollinsCanada’s continued commitment to publishing many of the best new fiction voices in the country.”
Said Dean Cooke co-owner of The Cooke Agency, “I have been contemplating such an award for several years and it was always my hope to partner with UBC’s creative writing program which has produced some of the country’s most outstanding writers. HarperCollinsCanada was instantly enthusiastic about the idea and we’re delighted by their unqualified support. In Canada’s challenging publishing climate it’s more important than ever to provide new writers innovative opportunities like the HarperCollinsCanada/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction.”
“We are extremely pleased to facilitate for our students a chance to work with an agency and publisher of the calibre of The Cooke Agency and HarperCollinsCanada. I have no doubt this will lead to the publication of some spectacular books, and launch the careers of some great writers,” commented Steven Galloway, Associate Professor and Acting Chair of the UBC Creative Writing Program.
The University of British Columbia sent out the call for submissions in September with a deadline of October 1, 2013.
The inaugural year for the prize coincides with the 50th anniversary of the UBC Creative Writing Program and will officially launch at the Vancouver International Writers’ Festival.
HarperCollinsCanada imprints include HarperCollinsPublishers, HarperPerennial, Collins, HarperTrophyCanada, HarperWeekend and Patrick Crean Editions. These imprints publish the finest writers from Canada and around the world, including such fiction authors as Nancy Richler, Dianne Warren, Dan Vyleta, Emma Donoghue, Lawrence Hill, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Cathy Marie Buchanan, Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King, Dennis Bock, Heather O’Neill, Hilary Mantel, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, Amy Tan, Shaena Lambert, Anne Giardini, Michael Cunningham, Kenneth Oppel, Natalee Caple, Rachelle Delaney, Jackie Baker, Paul Harding, Robert J. Wiersema, among many others.
HarperCollins is committed to publishing new writers and to building authors’ careers. HarperCollinsCanada published the first books by UBC MFA graduates Michael Christie and Kelli Deeth and as well as debut short story writers and novelists Ayelet Tsabari, Janie Chang and Rebecca Silver Slayter. HarperCollinsCanada publishes fiction, non-fiction, reference books and books for children.
The Cooke Agency is one of Canada’s largest and most successful literary agencies. It is over 20 years old and represents more than 150 clients who have been published in territories all around the globe – many of them bestselling authors who have won and/or been nominated for the most prestigious awards in the English language.
The UBC Creative Writing Program is Canada’s oldest and largest teacher of writers. It has fostered the talents of hundreds of notable Canadian writers, and remains at the forefront of literary training. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the program, which was founded in 1963 by Earle Birney.
