Five books have been shortlisted for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

The $60,000 annual prize recognizes the best novel or short story collection by a Canadian author.

The books on this year’s shortlist were selected by a jury comprised of Canadian fiction writers francesca ekwuyasi, Alix Hawley, and M.G. Vassanji. Jurors read 127 titles submitted by 58 publishing imprints to select the finalists, each of whom will be awarded $5,000.

The shortlisted titles are:

• Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue (HarperAvenue)
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Harper Perennial)
• A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter (Viking Canada)
• In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas (Viking Canada)
• The Book of Rain by Thomas Wharton (Random House Canada)

The winner will be announced at the Writers’ Trust Awards ceremony in Toronto on November 21. Previous winners of the prize include Alice Munro, Emma Donoghue, Miriam Toews, and last year’s winner, Nicholas Herring.