Toronto Book Awards

Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, the Toronto Book Awards honour books of literary merit that are evocative of Toronto. The annual awards offer $15,000 in prize money: finalists receive $1,000 and the winning author is awarded $10,000.

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  Desmond Cole has been awarded the 2020 Toronto Book Award for his memoir The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power, published by Doubleday Canada. The City of Toronto and Toronto Public Library named the winner at a virtual ceremony on November 30. Watch the replay on Crowdcast and read the news release.

  Image credit: Kate Yang-Nikodym

The 2020 Toronto Book Awards shortlisted titles are:

• Frying Plantain, Zalika Reid-Benta (House of Anansi Press)
• The Skin We're In, Desmond Cole (Penguin Random House Canada)
• The Missing Millionaire, Katie Daubs (Penguin Random House Canada)
• In the Beggarly Style of Imitation, Jean Marc Ah-Sen (Nightwoood Editions)
• Dancing After Ten, Vivian Chong and Georgia Webber (FantaGraphics)

Please visit the City of Toronto's website to learn more about the finalists and jurors and to read more about the 2020 Toronto Book Awards shortlisted titles.

Reading Lists

Explore the full list of 2020 Toronto Book Awards longlisted titles, and check out a reading list of the five shortlisted titles.