Amazon.ca First Novel Award (authors) Add a review

The Amazon Canada First Novel Award, formerly the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and The Walrus to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of Canada. It has been awarded since 1976.

The First Novel Award was founded by the literary magazine Books in Canada. Between 1976 and 1994, the award was sponsored by SmithBooks. During this period, the award was known as the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award. When SmithBooks was acquired by Chapters, it became the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.

The award was reorganized when Books in Canada was acquired by Adrian and Olga Stein in 1995. The Steins retained a first novel editor, introduced a comprehensive first novel review program, and formalized the adjudication process.

Amazon first signed on as a sponsor of the award in 2001, with the award presented as the amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award through the 2000s. Full administration of the award was taken over by Amazon in 2009 and its name was changed to the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. The Amazon.com arrangement saw the prize award initially doubled to $10,000, and then increased to its current amount of $40,000, with shortlisted finalists each receiving over $6,000.