The seventh annual Doug Wright Awards, which celebrate the best in Canadian comics and graphic novels, were handed out at a ceremony in Toronto on Saturday evening in conjunction with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Best book went to Pascal Girard’s Bigfoot, published by Drawn & Quarterly (read Q&Q‘s review of Bigfoot from our June 2011 issue), while the Pigskin Peters Award for experimental and abstract comics went to Michael DeForge’s Spotting Deer, published by Koyama Press, a Toronto-based incubator for emerging comics artists.

The night’s winners were:

• Best book: Bigfoot by Pascal Girard (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Best emerging talent: Alex Fellows, Spain & Morocco (self-published web comic)
• Pigskin Peters Award: Spotting Deer by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press)
• The Giants of the North, Canadian Cartoonists Hall of Fame inductee: David Boswell
  

The judging panel was made up of author Michael Redhill, National Post books editor Mark Medley, illustrator Anita Kunz, artist Marc Bell, and musician Sara Quin. Each winner receives a special hardcover edition of their winning work and a trophy by DWA co-founder, Seth.