On November 12, 2024 Quebec’s English-language literary community gathered for the 26th QWF Literary Awards Gala.
Ten winners were revealed across eight categories: first book, spoken word, children’s and young adult literature, non-fiction, poetry, playwriting, translation, and fiction. Each book award includes a cash prize of $3,000.
The winners of the QWF College Writers Award, the carte blanche Prize, and the Judy Mappin Community Award were also announced.
Marie-Louise Gay was honoured with the Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children’s & Young Adult Literature for her picture book, Hopscotch. About Hopscotch, the jurors said:
“Borrowing from the school story, the fantasy story, the animal story, and even the horror story, among other genres characteristic of the children’s literary canon, Hopscotch provides readers with a story of impressive psychological depth…. It is also a wonderful ode to the child’s imagination and the power of creativity.
“The images offer a clever visual exploration of Ophelia’s psyche: they are colourful and luminous when all is right; dark and washed out when things get rough. All is heightened by Gay’s use of many different techniques: watercolour, pencils, and pastels, to name a few, are mixed with great ingenuity to build a rich visual world.”
Jurors: Jeffrey Canton, Laura May Vogel, Eldon Yellowhorn
To see a list of all the winners, visit qwf.org.