Montreal author and Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Kim Thúy has been named a finalist for the 2012 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.

Thúy’s debut novel, Ru, was first published in 2009 by Quebec’s Libre Expression, winning the Governor General’s Literary Award for French-language fiction. In 2012, Random House Canada published the English-language version, translated by Sheila Fischman, as part of its New Face of Fiction program.

Chosen by Q&Q editor Stuart Woods, the five First Novel Award nominees are:

• Y, Marjorie Celona (Hamish Hamilton Canada)
• The Rest Is Silence, Scott Fotheringham (Goose Lane Editions)
• People Park, Pasha Malla (House of Anansi Press)
• Malarky, Anakana Schofield (Biblioasis)
• Ru, Kim Thúy; Sheila Fischman, trans. (Vintage Canada)