Trillium Book Award

About Trillium Book Award

The Ontario government established the Trillium Book Award in 1987 to recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and writing.

This prestigious Award is the province’s leading award for literature. The quality of Ontario authors and writing speaks for itself with the international acclaim achieved by past Trillium winners including Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Timothy Findley and Anne Michaels. In 1994, the prize was expanded to include the Prix Trillium, a separate award for Ontario’s francophone writers and their publishers.

The award given to the author of each winning book is $20,000 and their publishers receive $2,500 for the marketing and promotion of the titles. In 2003, there was a further enhancement to the traditional Trillium Book Award with the creation of the new Trillium Book Award for Poetry for new and emerging poets. A first, second or third work by a poet is eligible and each award recipient receives $10,000 and $2,000 is given to the winning publishers.

In 2006 the awards in the French language were enhanced such that the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in French language is awarded every two years, with eligible titles over the two years considered for the Award. The Trillium Book Award for Children’s Literature in French language is offered in the alternate years that the Poetry French language award is not given out. Similar to the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, the award recipient receives $10,000 and $2,000 is given to the winning publisher. The Trillium Award is open to books in any genre: fiction, non-fiction, drama, children’s books and poetry. Anthologies and translations are not eligible. A jury of writers and figures from the literary community judges all submissions and selects the winning titles.

Key Dates & Funding Deadlines

November 8, 2025 -

For titles published between January - October 2025

January 31, 2026 -

For titles published in November and December 2025

One (1) eBook of each title in EPUB or PDF format must be uploaded to Ontario Creates’ online submission form
Two (2) paper copies of each title must be submitted along with a hard copy completed submission form

Submissions are now closed. Stay tuned for 2026 details.