The Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners of the 21st Canada-Japan Literary Awards on Monday. Burnaby, B.C., authors Masako and Stanley Fukawa won $10,000 for Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet, a historical account of Japanese-Canadian fishing life on the west coast. Meanwhile, Janick Belleau, from Longueuil, Quebec, won $10,000 for a collection of tanka poetry in French and English, D’âmes et d’ailes /of souls and wings.

The award recognizes Japanese-themed literary works by Canadian authors. The 2010 jury for the English-language prize consisted of authors Michael Crummey, Sally Ito, and playwright Daniel MacIvor. The French‘language prize jury consisted of authors Ying Chen, Michèle Laframboise, and Pierre Ouellet.