Five books, all from independent Canadian publishers, have made the shortlist for the $60,000 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Each finalist receives $5,000.

The prize, which was renamed last year, honours the best novel or short fiction collection published in Canada each year. It is funded by Research in Motion’s former CEO Jim Balsillie.

The winner will be announced at the Writers’ Trust Awards on November 2, marking the first in-person celebration of the prize since 2019.

The finalists are:

• Manam by Rima Elkouri, Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott, trans. (Mawenzi House)
• Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring (Goose Lane Editions)
• Querelle of Roberval by Kevin Lambert and Donald Winkler, trans. (Biblioasis)
• Ezra’s Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose (NeWest Press)
• Her First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi (House of Anansi Press)

The jury, comprised of writers David Bergen, Norma Dunning, and Andrew Forbes, selected the finalists from 132 titles submitted by 70 publishers.