(l-r) Robyn Maynard, Arielle Twist, and Smokii Sumac

Robyn Maynard, Smokii Sumac, and Arielle Twist are the 2020 finalists for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers. This year, the Writers’ Trust has doubled the prize money to $10,000 for the first time. Each finalist will receive $1,000.

The prize is awarded to an LGBTQ2S+ writer of “great literary promise.” Past winners have included Zoe Whittall, Farzana Doctor, Kai Cheng Thom, and Lindsay Nixon. The jury for the 2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize includes writers Trevor Corkum, Lindsay Nixon, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.

The winner will be announced on October 21 as part of the virtual Writers’ Trust Awards: Emerging Writers Edition, alongside the winners of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers and the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize.