Toronto author Leslie Shimotakahara has won the 2012 Canada-Japan Literary Award for her debut memoir, The Reading List (Variety Crossing Press).

In partnership with the Japanese embassy, the $10,000 biannual award, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, recognizes “literary excellence by Canadian authors writing on Japan or Japanese themes.”

The French-language winner is Coma (Leméac Éditeur) by Montreal’s François Gilbert.