This summer, we challenge you to pair your juicy Ontario strawberries and verdant fiddleheads with the very best local literature our province has to offer. The 2016 Trillium Book Award shortlist is out (watch the announcement now). This list will excite both the voracious reader as well as the Can-Lit newbie, looking to expand their homegrown repertoire.

We’re all about supporting local publishers who share with us the brightest and boldest Canadian writers, so whether you want to kick back on the cottage dock and revisit your teenage angst years in Lynn Crosbie’s grunge-rock thriller Where Did You Sleep Last Night, or prefer to pair your crisp rosé with some heavy-hearted poetry in Damian Rogers’ Dear Leader, there is something delicious awaiting you on this fresh and local summer reading list.

Your Fresh + Local Summer Reading List:

English-Language Finalists for the Trillium Book Award:

  • Lynn Crosbie, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, House of Anansi Press
  • Andrew Forbes, What You Need, Invisible Publishing
  • Kevin Hardcastle, Debris, Biblioasis
  • Robert Hough, The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan, House of Anansi Press
  • Janette Platana, A Token of My Affliction, Tightrope Books
  • Karen Solie, The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out, House of Anansi Press

Finalists for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in English language:

  • Madhur Anand, A New Index for Predicting Catastrophes,McClelland and Stewart
  • Soraya Peerbaye, Tell: poems for a girlhood, Pedlar Press
  • Damian Rogers, Dear Leader, Coach House Books

For book synopses and author bios, go here. The Trillium Book winners will be announced on June 22, 2016. For a full list, including French titles, visit the OMDC site.

CONTEST: Enter to win a collection of the nine English titles shortlisted for the 2016 Trillium Book Awards! 

Tweet: “Dear @Shedoesthecity, I love fresh & local literature. Please send me the English titles on the #TrilliumBook2016 short list! #ONCreates”

IG: Like and comment when we post a photo of any of the books on the Trillium Book Award short list.

Contest closes June 22nd at 3PM.

This post was generously sponsored by the OMDC, but opinions are my own.