Six books have been shortlisted for the 2025 Toronto Book Award.

With this year’s prize, the Toronto Book Awards have doubled in value: the winning author will now receive $20,000, and the shortlisted finalists each receive $2,000. 

The prize was established in 1979 and honours works of literary merit that are inspired by Toronto and its residents.

This year’s shortlist includes only one title from an independent Canadian publisher, Maggie Helwig’s Encampment (Coach House Books).

The shortlisted books are:

• All the Parts We Exile by Roza Nozari (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada) 
• Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community by Maggie Helwig (Coach House Books) 
• Other Worlds by André Alexis (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada) 
• The Knowing by Tanya Talaga (HarperCollins Publishers) 
• The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse by Vinh Nguyen (HarperCollins Publishers) 
• Unlike The Rest: A Doctor’s Story by Chika Stacey Oriuwa (HarperCollins Publishers)

The shortlisted works were selected from a 12-book longlist announced in July.

The jury for this year’s award is comprised of literary agent Sam Hiyate, Trinidadian-Canadian author Sophie Jai, former Writers’ Trust executive director Don Oravec, Anishinaabe-kwe curator and community organizer and 2023 Toronto Book Award winner Wanda Nanibush, and poet and spoken word performer David Silverberg.

The winner will be named on October 15.