The finalists have been announced for the Doug Wright Awards, honouring the best in Canadian comics. The winners will be announced via a pre-recorded livestream on Facebook and YouTube on May 8. Filmmaker Don McKellar will host.

The winners in each of the four categories will receive a small cash prize, with an additional prize for the winner of The Nipper, who will receive a week-long retreat at the Valleyview Artist Retreat, in Caledon, Ontario. All The Pigskin Peters entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Broken Pencil. Drawn & Quarterly received the most nominations of any press with a total of four.

The judges for the Doug Wright Awards included Q&Q contributors Steven W. Beattie, Sarah Sawler and Jonathan Valelly, as well as Claudia Dávila, Jenn Haines, Paul G. Hammond, Brett Lamb, Shauna McCabe, Sylvia Nickerson, Emily Pohl-Weary, and Frank Viva. One hundred forty-seven books were submitted with finalists and winners chosen by a jury of three judges per category. The finalists are listed below.

The Doug Wright Award for best book
Lonely Boys, S. Bédard (Pow Pow Press)
Familiar Face, Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)
Constantly, GG (Koyama Press)
Paul at Home, Michel Rabagliati (Drawn & Quarterly)
Wendy, Master of Art, Walter Scott (Drawn & Quarterly)

The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent
A Gleaming No. 2, Adam de Souza (Self-published)
The Space In Between, Kimberly Edgar (Self-published)
We Don’t Go Through the Angelgrass I, Courtney Loberg (Self-published)
Langosh & Peppi: Fugitive Days, Veronica Post (Conundrum Press)
Restless Bones, Shannon M. Reeves (Gytha Press)

The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book
The Noiseless Din, Scott Carruthers (Popnoir Editions)
The Desecration, Scott Carruthers and Sally McKay (Self-published)
A Gleaming No. 2, Adam de Souza (Self-published)
The Space In Between, Kimberly Edgar (Self-published)
Awkward Pause, Ryan Harby (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids’ book
A Slug Story, Mandi Kujawa, Hana Kujawa, Claude St. Aubin, and Lovern Kindzierski (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt, Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler (Tundra Books)
Okay, Universe: Chronicles of a Woman in Politics, Valérie Plante and Delphie Côté-Lacroix (Drawn & Quarterly)
Grandmother School, Rina Singh and Ellen Rooney (Orca Book Publishers)
Swift Fox All Along, Rebecca Thomas and Maya McKibbin (Annick Press)