Montreal comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly has secured five out of six nominations for the 2012 Doug Wright Award for Best Book, with veteran D&Q artists Joe Ollman, Chester Brown, and Seth competing against popular newcomers Pascal Girard and Kate Beaton.

Founded in 2004, the annual awards were established as a “means of recognizing and promoting Canadian comics and comic creators.” The winners will be announced on May 5 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in conjunction with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Doug Wright Award for Best Book:

• Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Lose #3, Michael Deforge (Koyama Press)
• Mid-Life, Joe Ollmann (D&Q)
• Paying for It, Chester Brown (D&Q)
• Reunion, Pascal Girard (D&Q)
• The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists, Seth (D&Q)

Doug Wright Spotlight Award (recognizing talent deserving of wider recognition):

• Emily Carroll, The Seven Windows (from The Anthology Project vol. 2), Margot’s Room, The Prince & the Sea,” and other comics at emcarroll.com/comic
• Patrick Kyle, Black Mass #5“6
• Betty Liang for Wet T-Shirt #1, It’s Only a Secret if You Don’t Tell Anyone (from Å¡! #9), Anna Freud’s Recurring Dream,” and other comics at bettyliang.tumblr.com
• Ethan Rilly, Pope Hats #2 (AdHouse Books)
• Zach Worton, The Klondike (D&Q)

Pigskin Peters Award (recognizing the best in avant-garde or experimental comics):

• Hermoddities, Temple Bates (Conundrum Press)
• Pure Pajamas, Marc Bell (D&Q)
• Hellberta, Michael Comeau (Koyama Press)
• “Untitled” by Mum Pittsburg, Jupiter Leucetius! Send Us a King. We Are So Bored, and other comics at connorwillumsen.com, Connor Willumsen