2025 TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD
JURIES AND WINNING PUBLISHERS

June 18, 2024

TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD/PRIX TRILLIUM

The Ontario government established the Trillium Book Award in 1987 to recognize the literary excellence and diversity of Ontario writers and writing. The Trillium Book Award reflects the wealth of talent and creativity of Ontario authors writing in both English and French languages. The award is open to books in any genre which makes for a rich, diverse range of fiction and non-fiction winning titles.

Now in its 38th year, the Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium has a long tradition of recognizing literary excellence. The 2025 finalists make up a diverse and exciting library of Ontario books, highlighting this year’s best homegrown literature and creating a top-notch “Read Ontario” booklist to discover – from novels to poetry to non-fiction and more.

We thank the members of the juries for their dedication and hard work in reviewing the many submissions, narrowing them down to a shortlist and selecting the winning authors.

TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD JURIES

ENGLISH LANGUAGE JURY FOR TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD

• Elyse Friedman is a critically acclaimed author of six books. Her work has been short-listed for the Trillium Book Award, The Toronto Book Award, the Relit Award and the Tom Hendry Award. Her short story “The Soother,” won the gold National Magazine Award for fiction, and she has twice won the TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award. Elyse lives in Toronto.

• Naben Ruthnum is the author of Helpmeet, A Hero of Our Time, The Grimmer, and other books. He also works as a screenwriter, and lives in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto.

• Anuja Varghese (she/her) is an award-winning writer based in Hamilton, ON. Her work has appeared in several literary magazines and anthologies, and she is the Fiction Editor at the Ex-Puritan. In 2023, Her short story collection, titled Chrysalis, won the Writers Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, and in 2024, was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, A Kiss of Crimson Ash, the first in a new fantasy trilogy inspired by medieval India, is forthcoming in Spring 2026. Find Anuja online through her website anujavarghese.com.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE JURY FOR TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY

• Conyer Clayton is a queer writer from Kentucky living in Ottawa. Their latest book of surrealist prose poetry, But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves. won the Archibald Lampman Award. They are a Senior Editor at Augur and a member of VII, an Ottawa-based poetry collective, and you can find their fiction, essays, and poetry published in journals throughout the U.S. and Canada. Their third full-length collection of poetry is forthcoming in 2026 with Buckrider Books, Wolsak and Wynn. They are working on a novel with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, and The Tin House Summer 2025 Workshop.

• David Seymour has published two full length books of poetry, Inter Alia (Brick Books), and For Display Purposes Only (Coach House Books), and a chapbook entitled Head Arrangements (Junction Books). In addition to writing and editing, David has also worked in the film and television industry as an Assistant Director and, later, as the Director of Member Services for the Directors Guild of Canada. He currently resides in Lakehurst, Ontario.
• Moez Surani’s writing has been published internationally, including in Harper’s Magazine, Best American Experimental Writing, Best Canadian Poetry, and the Globe and Mail. His visual and performance works have been shown at Nuit Blanche Toronto, YYZ Artists' Outlet, WhiteBox in New York, the Cross Gallery in Taipei and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Centre. He is the author of the poetry books Operations and Are the Rivers in Your Poems Real, and the novel, The Legend of Baraffo.

FRENCH LANGUAGE JURY FOR TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD AND TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

• Lisa L’Heureux is the artistic director at Théâtre Rouge Écarlate (RÉ, Ottawa), as well as a deep-diving artist, a unifier and a tinkerer. She is drawn to fragments, the unspoken, discomfort and the ephemeral.
  She is the author of several solo plays, including Ciseaux (RÉ, 2014), Pour l'hiver (RÉ, 2015: awarded the 2017 Prix Jacques-Poirier), Et si un soir (RÉ, 2018: winner of the 2019 Trillium Award and nominated for the Governor General’s Award the same year), as well as several co-written works, including Cadences (Théâtre Belvédère, 2021), Tapage et autres bruits sourds (Poids Plumes + NAC French Theatre, 2018), Love is in the birds (Théâtre du Trillium, 2013) and Comment frencher un fonctionnaire sans le fatiguer (Poids Plumes, 2014). She is also the author of children’s play Parmi les monstres (winner of the 2025 Écrivaines et Écrivains Associés du Théâtre [E.A.T.] children’s award) and of poetry collection Haus (published by Prise de parole, 2025).

• Eunice Boué is a communicator, entrepreneur and mistress of ceremonies with over 12 years of experience hosting corporate events, galas, conferences, symposiums, forums and masterclasses. She is known for her stage presence, ease and professionalism.
  As Executive Director of the Toronto French Book Fair, she actively promotes Francophone literature in Ontario. She established the young literary talent award, already in its second edition, and leads the CLIN project, an inclusive book club that criss-crosses Toronto to connect communities with French-language literature.
  
  The founder of U-Event, an agency specializing in communications and public relations, she supports numerous cultural and institutional projects. Her commitment is recognized through her roles as Ambassador of the Francophonie of the Americas, finalist for the 2024 Prix GAF and chair of the 2025 Prix RelèveON awarded by the Club canadien de Toronto, where she also sits on the board of directors.
  
  She hosts radio show Zoom Franco on Choq FM, which celebrates the French-speaking world. Eunice has a degree in art and literature and a master’s degree in education, and she contributes actively to promoting Francophone initiatives in Canada and internationally.

• Katia Grubisic is a writer, an editor and a translator. She has won the Gerald Lampert Award, the Cole Foundation Prize for Translation and the Governor General’s Award.

Congratulations to the publishers of the Trillium winning books for their commitment to, and support, of the authors:

PUBLISHERS OF TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD WINNERS

• Penguin Random House Canada, the country’s largest book publisher, aims to nourish a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. They publish over 500 new original titles per year in the North American market and distribute another 10,000 titles in Canada on behalf of Penguin Random House publishers in the U.S. and the U.K. and many clients. They also run their own Toronto-based audiobook program and in-house recording studio, employing Canadian artists, authors, and directors. (Random House Canada/Penguin Random House Canada for I’m So Glad We Had This Time TogetherbyMaurice Vellekoop).

• Brick Books is a hub and a home for poets and lovers of poetry. Founded by Stan Dragland and Don McKay in 1975, the press began by publishing chapbooks. They now publish full-length volumes of an individual author’s work, with an average of eight new books and nine reprints every year. Brick Books’ mandate has, from the beginning, been to foster compelling work by Canadian poets and translators of poetry, both new and established. More recently, they have added to this mandate a commitment to continually expand the range of voices that they employ and amplify, while maintaining the exceptional editorial standard for which Brick Books has gained a national reputation. (Brick Books forDADDYby Jake Byrne).

• Les Éditions du Boréal sont une maison d’édition canadienne, basée à Montréal, qui publie en langue française de la littérature générale. Fondée en 1963, elle est devenue au fil des ans l’une des principales maisons indépendantes, respectée pour la qualité de ses publications. Nombre de ses auteurs ont reçu des prix tant au Canada qu’à l’étranger. Le Boréal publie une quarantaine de nouveautés par année, et son catalogue compte plus de 2 500 titres. (Les Éditions du Boréal forCéline au Congoby Aristote Kavungu)

• La ligne éditoriale de Comme des géants se concentre sur la production exclusive d’albums jeunesse illustrés, voués principalement aux enfants de 0 à 12 ans. Depuis sa fondation, la société a publié 97 titres, sous ses trois bannières: Comme des géants, Le Lièvre de Mars, et tout récemment, Milky Way Picture Books. Comme des géants a également pour mission de faire découvrir le talent créatif d’une myriade d’auteur·e·s et d’illustrateur·trice·s d’ici et d’ailleurs. (Comme des géants forLe Bonnet Magiqueby Mireille Messier).

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