2021 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Winners Announced
Canada’s best debut books in Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, and Mystery have been chosen
Today, Rakuten Kobo announced the winners of its seventh annual Emerging Writer Prize, adding three new Canadian authors to its growing list of celebrated writers. Debut authors in Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, and Mystery each were awarded a $10,000 CAD cash prize, and will receive promotional, marketing, and communications support from Rakuten Kobo to help get them started in the world of publishing.
Nonfiction Winner
The Nonfiction prize has been awarded to Eternity Martis for They Said This Would Be Fun, published by McClelland & Stewart.
About the book: A powerful, moving memoir about what it's like to be a student of colour on a predominantly white campus.
Author Kamal Al-Solaylee, this year’s Nonfiction judge, said of the book: “In They Said This Would Be Fun, Eternity Martis rewrites the grammar of the memoir and reconfigures its boundaries to make room for her wide-ranging experiences and reflections on anti-Black racism in a Canadian university, violence against women, and the intersections of colorism, mixed-race identities and the coming of age of a Black woman in Ontario. All that and a winning, defiant sense of humor that cuts through the founding myths of a racially tolerant Canada with alacrity and surgical precision. I loved every word in this sensational debut. It moved me to tears almost as often as it made me laugh, think and pause to admire the beautiful writing that leaps off the e-page – sometimes with joy, other times with deep but meaningful sadness. They Said This Would Be Fun is essential reading for anyone invested in the future of Canada and its next generation of storytellers.”
Literary Fiction Winner
The Literary Fiction prize has been awarded to Michelle Good for Five Little Indians, published by Harper Perennial.
About the book: With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.
Author Jennifer Robson, this year’s Literary Fiction judge, said of the book: “While all the shortlisted books were written to a very high standard, it was Ms. Good’s book that stood out for me — not only because it is an assured and mature novel in its structure and execution, but also because it’s a book that I feel certain will pass the test of time. Five Little Indians is a novel that people will be reading, and taking to their hearts, for decades to come. Reading from the perspective of a settler, I was humbled and profoundly moved by Ms. Good’s characters, the injustices they endured, the weight of the lasting trauma inflicted upon them, and the courage, dignity, and fortitude of the survivors among them. Five Little Indians may be categorized as fiction, but it is rooted in honest, unflinching, and necessary truth.”
Mystery Winner
The Mystery prize has been awarded to Emily Hepditch for The Woman in the Attic, published by Flanker Press.
About the book: The Woman in the Attic is a claustrophobic psychological thriller wrought with suspense. This novel will put you on the edge of your seat… and make you wary of the unused spaces collecting dust in your home.
Author Amy Stuart, this year’s Mystery judge, said of the book: “The Woman in the Attic is the sort of confident and assured mystery you’d expect from a seasoned writer, not one in the very early stages of a promising career. In this twisty and compelling novel, Emily Hepditch takes readers to the windswept and remote corners of Newfoundland, where her young narrator, Hannah, has returned home to a mother struggling with dementia and a house in just enough disrepair to begin revealing its secrets. A modern thriller with gothic touches, The Woman in the Attic ends on such a propulsive note that I found myself reading the final pages over and over again. With this truly surprising mystery under her belt, I can’t wait to read what Emily Hepditch conjures up next.”
More about the prize
The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is now in its seventh year. The winners were selected from a shortlist of talented Canadian writers chosen by Kobo’s team of booksellers, with book completion rates, customer ratings, and reviews taken into consideration.
The 2021 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist
Nonfiction
The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole, published by Doubleday Canada
Missing From The Village by Justin Ling, published by McClelland & Stewart
Field Notes From A Pandemic by Ethan Lou, published by McClelland & Stewart
They Said This Would Be Fun by Eternity Martis, published by McClelland & Stewart
Dead Mom Walking by Rachel Matlow, published by Penguin Canada
Finding Murph by Rick Westhead, published by HarperCollins Publishers
Literary Fiction
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, published by Harper Perennial
When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald, published by Gallery/Scout Press
Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva, published by Knopf Canada
Hunger Moon by Traci Skuce, published by NeWest Press
After Shock by Alison Taylor, published by HarperCollins Publishers
We Two Alone by Jack Wang, published by House of Anansi Press Inc
Mystery
The Woman in the Attic by Emily Hepditch, published by Flanker Press
Black Iris by Linda Keith, published by Five by Five Publishing
Tell Me My Name by Erin Ruddy, published by Dundurn
Dark August by Katie Tallo, published by Harper Paperbacks
Night Call by Brenden Carlson, published by Dundurn
True Patriots by Russell Fralich, published by Dundurn
To be eligible for the 2021 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, entrants must be Canadian citizens or legal residents of Canada who published debut books during the 2020 calendar year in the categories of Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, or Genre Fiction (the genre this year is Mystery; each year, a different genre is chosen). All submitted books must be available at www.kobo.com.
-30-
About Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is the world’s digital bookseller created by and for book lovers. Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group Inc. and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo’s 38 million worldwide users can read any time, anywhere, and on any device. With a mission to make reading lives better for all, Rakuten Kobo connects readers to stories using thoughtful and personalized curation of eBooks and audiobooks, and the best dedicated devices and apps for reading. With the singular focus of making reading lives the best they can be, Kobo’s open platform allows people to fit reading into more moments in their busy lives. To learn more about Rakuten Kobo, visitwww.kobo.com.
Media Contact
Rene d’Entremont
Director, Communications
[email protected]