Toronto Announces 2025 Toronto Book Awards Longlist and Boosts Prize Money
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Toronto Announces 2025 Toronto Book Awards Longlist and Boosts Prize Money

Alwin Marshall-Squire 0 Comments 2 min read

Celebrating literary excellence with deeper recognition of Toronto’s voices and stories

TORONTO — The City of Toronto and Toronto Public Library (TPL) have unveiled the longlist for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards, spotlighting 12 powerful works that reflect the city’s diverse cultural identity, complex histories, and vibrant storytelling landscape.

Founded in 1974 by Toronto City Council, the Toronto Book Awards celebrate authors whose books deepen public understanding of life in Toronto. This year, the awards are marking a significant milestone—not only with a compelling and varied longlist but also by doubling the cash prizes for finalists.

The 2025 longlist features fiction, poetry, and memoirs from some of Canada’s most exciting literary voices:

  • Encampment by Maggie Helwig (Coach House Books)

  • Unlike The Rest by Chika Stacey Oriuwa (Harper Collins Canada)

  • Shadow Price by Farah Ghafoor (House of Anansi)

  • The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse by Vinh Nguyen (Harper Collins Canada)

  • Other Worlds by André Alexis (McClelland & Stewart)

  • Nobody Asked For This by Georgia Toews (Doubleday Canada)

  • Story of Your Mother by Chantal Braganza (Strange Light)

  • All the Parts We Exile by Roza Nozari (Knopf Canada)

  • Widow Fantasies by Hollay Ghadery (Gordon Hill Press)

  • The Knowing by Tanya Talaga (Harper Collins Canada)

  • The Immortal Woman by Su Chang (House of Anansi)

  • Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill by Catherine Little with Sae Kimura (Plum Leaf Press)

The shortlist will be announced later this summer, with the winner revealed at a ceremony on October 15.

A Boost for Toronto’s Literary Community

This year, the prize amounts have been doubled. The winning author will receive $20,000, while each shortlisted finalist will receive $2,000, recognizing both excellence and the vital role literature plays in civic life.

The 2025 jury includes literary agent Sam Hiyate, author and editor Sophie Jai, Indigenous curator Wanda Nanibush, arts advocate Don Oravec, and journalist-poet David Silverberg.

To learn more about the Toronto Book Awards and explore past winners and finalists, visit the City’s official Toronto Book Awards webpage.

Follow GTA Today on social media for more local arts and culture stories. #GTAToday

Alwin Marshall-Squire

Alwin Marshall-Squire is the Editor-in-Chief of S-Q Publications Inc., overseeing editorial strategy for GTA Weekly, GTA Today, and Vision Newspaper. He leads the publications’ mission to deliver bold, original journalism focused on the people and communities of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the global Caribbean diaspora. Also writes for GTA Weekly and GTA Today.

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