I'm incredibly pleased to announce that Niko has won the 2011 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, awarded by the Quebec Writers' Federation.

Here's what the Montreal Gazette had to say this morning:



MONTREAL - The Quebec Writers’ Federation Literary Awards were handed out during a gala at the Lion d’Or, Tuesday and the winner of the Paragraphe Hugh Maclennan Prize for Fiction is Dimitri Nasrallah for Niko (Véhicule Press; Esplanade Books).

The novel tells the story of Niko, a young boy who flees a bombed Beirut with his father Antoine. Niko and Antoine become separated and both struggle to regain a sense of identity in different foreign lands.

The jury described the book as, “written in clear, direct, and startlingly lovely prose. Niko is a gripping and deeply compassionate novel.”

Prizes were handed out in six categories. Each winner received a $2,000 cheque.

Joel Yanofsky received the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction for Bad Animals: A Father’s Accidental Education in Autism (Viking Canada) about life with his autistic son Jonah.

Ann Scowcroft was awarded the Concordia University First Book Prize for her collection of poems The Truth of Houses (Brick Books).

Gabe Foreman won the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry for his debut collection of poems, A Complete Encyclopedia of Different Types of People (Coach House Books).

Lazer Lederhendler received the Cole Foundation Prize for Translation for Apocalypse for Beginners (Knopf Canada: Vintage Canada), the translation of Nicholas Dickner’s Tarmac (Éditions Alto), a comedy about two friends and an inherited fear of the apocalypse.

The QWF Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature went to Alan Silberberg for Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze (Simon & Schuster). The illustrated novel is about a boy moving forward following his mother’s death.

As well, the QWF Community Award was presented to poet and playwright Endre Farkas for his dedication to promoting English-language arts.