HarperCollinsPublishers, The Cooke Agency and the University of British Columbia announced today the shortlist for the third annual HarperCollinsPublishers/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction.
The prize is a collaboration of HarperCollinsPublishers, 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 be published by HarperCollinsPublishers.
The shortlisted works are:
BETWEEN THE WIND AND US, by Iranian-Canadian author Nazanine Hozar, is a sweeping novel set against the political turmoil of Iran between 1953 and 1979, following the life of a girl who is abandoned by her family at birth and the network of people affected by her;
LEARNING TO BREATHE, by British Columbia based Janice Lynn Mather, is an engaging young adult novel that tells the story of a Caribbean teenager who is sent from home by her mother to live with an uncaring aunt in Nassau, where she must find the strength to overcome society’s low expectations of her;
AT THE TOP OF THE WALL, ALIGHT, by Sudbury author Natalie Morrill, was previously nominated for the prize, and we were pleased to consider the substantially revised manuscript again for this year’s award. This powerful, accomplished novel follows the life of a Viennese Jew who is separated from his family during the Second World War and aided by a close friend, who is also a member of the Nazi party.
“This is a strong and diverse shortlist of talented new writers, chosen from a pool of excellent submissions,” said Iris Tupholme, Senior Vice President and Executive Publisher, at HarperCollinsPublishers. “We are very pleased to be working with UBC’s Creative Writing Program and The Cooke Agency for the third year of this important award.”
“The quality of the manuscripts, the diversity of styles, genres, and subject matter, and the boundless imagination expressed in this year’s Prize submissions impressed each of our five readers. We continue to be profoundly impressed by the work coming out of the UBC Creative Writing Program and count ourselves privileged to be introduced to the work of these promising new authors,” said Dean Cooke of The Cooke Agency.
“We’re proud of all of the writers who sent in works, and are thrilled to see these three excellent writers shortlisted. We are extremely excited to see this prize continue to flourish,” said Steven Galloway, Associate Professor and Chair, UBC Creative Writing Program.
The winner of the 2015 HarperCollinsPublishers/UBC Prize will be announced at the Vancouver Writers Fest party hosted by UBC Creative Writing at the Dockside Lounge, Granville Island Hotel on October 23, 2015.
The inaugural winner of the prize was Karim Alrawi for his novel BOOK OF SANDS, which has just been published to strong reviews; HarperCollins will publish the second annual winner, Chelsea Bolan, in May, 2016.
HarperCollinsPublishers imprints include HarperCollinsPublishers, HarperAvenue, 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, Esi Edugyan, Helen Humphreys, Emma Donoghue, Lawrence Hill, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Cathy Marie Buchanan, Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King, Dennis Bock, Heather O’Neill, Hilary Mantel, Richard Ford, Amy Tan, Shaena Lambert, Anne Giardini, Michael Cunningham, Kenneth Oppel, Natalee Caple, Rachelle Delaney, Jacqueline Baker, Paul Harding, Robert J. Wiersema, among many others. HarperCollins is committed to publishing new writers and to building authors’ careers. HarperCollinsPublishers 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. HarperCollinsPublishers 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.
