Robyn Doolittle

Kobo, the digital book retailer and reading-device manufacturer, announced the winners of its inaugural Emerging Writer Prizes at a ceremony in Toronto on July 8.

The Literary Fiction prize was awarded to Claire Battershill for Circus (McClelland & Stewart), her debut short-story collection.

Sam Wiebe won the Genre Fiction (Mystery) category for his mystery novel Last of the Independents: Vancouver Noir (Dundurn Press).

And the winner of the Non-fiction prize was Globe and Mail reporter Robyn Doolittle for Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story (Penguin Canada), her look at Toronto under its notorious former mayor.

Each winner was awarded $10,000 and will receive promotional, marketing, and communications support for their books.

Winners of the Kobo Emerging Writer Prizes were selected from a previously announced shortlist of books by Canadian authors, chosen by Kobo booksellers, taking into account customer ratings and reviews.