Playwright, poet, novelist, and essayist M. NourbeSe Philip has won a Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize.

Two prizes were awarded this year. Philip won the arts prize. Gordon J. G. Asmundson, a mental health and psychology scholar, was awarded the social sciences and humanities prize.

Both winners were awarded $50,000.

Philip is the author of multiple books across genres, including Blank: Essays and Interviews (Book*hug Press), She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (Wesleyan University Press), and Zong! (Wesleyan University Press).

According to the Canada Council for the Arts website, “the prize encourages recipients to continue contributing to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada.”