The Toronto Book Awards are Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the City of Toronto government to the author of the year's best fiction or non-fiction book or books "that are evocative of Toronto". The award is presented in the fall of each year, with its advance promotional efforts including a series of readings by the nominated authors at each year's The Word on the Street festival.
Each author shortlisted for the award receives $2,000, and the winner or winners receive the balance of $20,000.
The award has frequently gone to multiple winners. 1987 was the first time in the history of the award that only a single winner was named.
Winners and nominees
1970s
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width=100%
|+Toronto Book Awards winners and finalists, 1974-1979
!Year
!Author
!Title
!Result
!Ref.
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="8" |1974
|
|O Toronto
|Winner
| rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Mayor Howland
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|In the Middle of a Life
|Winner
|-
| and Joseph Ernst
|'
|Finalist
| rowspan=5|
|-
|
|Storm of Fortune
|Finalist
|-
|
|Richard Howard and Helmut Weyerstrahs, Passengers Must Not Ride on Fender
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Cities
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="8" |1975
|
|Halfway Up Parnassus
|Winner
| rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Women at Work
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|Sick Kids
|Finalist
| rowspan=5|
|-
|
|Canadian Healing Oil
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Alligator Pie - Nicholas Knock
|Finalist
|-
|
|Albert Franck: His Life, Times and Work
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="8" |1976
| and Harold Troper
|Immigrants: A Portrait of the Urban Experience 1890-1930
|Winner
| rowspan=2|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
| rowspan=6|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Poet Cop
|Finalist
|-
|
|Gabriel
|Finalist
|-
| and Angela Wood
|'
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="7" |1977
|
|Lady Oracle
|Winner
| rowspan=2|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|Trillium and Toronto Island
|Finalist
| rowspan=5|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
| rowspan=3|
|-
|
|Close to the Sun Again
|Finalist
|-
| and Barbara Amiel
|By Persons Unknown
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="9" |1979
|
|'
|Winner
| rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Lost Toronto
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Fun Tomorrow
|Winner
|-
|
|No Man's Meat and The Enchanted Pimp
|Finalist
| rowspan=6|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|From Front Street to Queen's Park: The Story of Ontario's Parliament Buildings
|Finalist
|rowspan=6|
|-
|
|Life Before Man
|Finalist
|-
|
|Everything in the Window
|Finalist
|-
|
|Reservoir Ravine
|Finalist
|-
|
|Upper Canada College 1928-1979: Colbourne's Legacy
|Finalist
|-
|
|Memoirs of an Art Dealer
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="7" |1981
|
|Big Daddy: Frederick G. Gardiner and the Building of Metropolitan Toronto
|Winner
|rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Young Mr. Smith in Upper Canada
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Basic Black with Pearls
|Winner
|-
|
|Toronto Workers Respond to Industrial Capitalism, 1867-1892
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Lunatic Villas
|Winner
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|David Boyle: From Artisan to Archaeologist
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=3|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Toronto to 1918
|Winner
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|'
|Winner
|-
|
|Sir John Beverley Robinson
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
| and Merlyn McKelvey
|Toronto: Carved in Stone
|Finalist
|-
|
|E.J. Pratt: The Truant Years 1882-1927
|Finalist
|-
|
|Forging a Consensus
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="6" |1986
|
|Our Lady of the Snows
|Winner
|rowspan=2|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|What's Bred in the Bone
|Winner
|-
|
|Digging Up the Mountains
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Spadina Avenue
|Finalist
|-
|
|Toronto Since 1918: An Illustrated History
|Finalist
|-
|
|Toronto Architecture: A City Guide
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="6" |1987
| and William Kilbourn
|Toronto Observed: Its Architecture, Patrons and History
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Sir Charles God Damn: The Life of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
| and William Shaffir
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Never Let Go: The Tragedy of Kristy McFarlane
|Finalist
|-
|
|Mortal Sins
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="7" |1989
|
|Cat's Eye
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=6|
|-
|
|Best Seat in the House
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Toronto The Way It Was
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|}
1990s
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width=100%
|+Toronto Book Awards winners and finalists, 1990-1999
!Year
!Author
!Title
!Result
!Ref.
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="7" |1990
|
|Double Take: The Story of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres
|Winner
|rowspan=2|
|-style=background:#FAEB86
|
|Homesick
|Winner
|-
|
|Northrop Frye
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|Memories of Margaret
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Harriet's Daughter
|Finalist
|-
|
|Dear M
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="7" |1991
| and Robert MacDonald (eds.)
|Streets of Attitude: Toronto Stories
|Winner
|
|-
|
|City Hall and Mrs. God: A Passionate Journey Through a Changing Toronto
|Finalist
|rowspan=6|
|-
|
|Say to the Darkness, We Beg to Differ
|Finalist
|-
| and Johnny Wales
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|From Police Headquarters
|Finalist
|-
|
|St. Farb's Day
|Finalist
|-
|
|Tales for an Unknown City
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="7" |1992
|
|Hearts of Flame
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Wilderness Tips
|Finalist
|rowspan=6|
|-style=background:#FAEB86
|
|China Blues
|Winner
|-
|
|Paint Cans
|Finalist
|rowspan=3|
|-
|
|Ellen/Elena/Luna
|Finalist
|-
|
|North Toronto
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="6" |1994
|
|Headhunter
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Minus Time
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Intimate Grandeur
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="4" |1995
|
|Sir Ernest MacMillan: The Importance of Being Canadian
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=3|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Moodie's Tale
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="6" |1996
|
|Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|Accidental City
|Finalist
|-
|
|Toronto the Wild, Field Notes of an Urban Naturalist
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="5" |1997
|
|Fugitive Pieces
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Chump Change
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|In the Wings
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|In the Misleading Absence of Light
|Finalist
|-
|
|Thin Ice
|Finalist
|-
|
|Dippers
|Finalist
|-
|
|Buying on Time
|Finalist
|-style=background:#FAEB86
!rowspan="5" |1999
|
|Benedict Abroad
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Olympia
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
| and Chris Chambers
|Wild Mouse
|Finalist
|-
|
|Home from the Vinyl Cafe
|Finalist
|}
2000s
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width=100%
|+Toronto Book Awards winners and finalists, 2000-2009
!Year
!Author
!Title
!Result
!Ref.
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2000
|
|Mouthing the Words
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Sanctuary and Other Stories
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Toronto - A Literary Guide
|Finalist
|-
|, Betty Ida Roots, and Donald A. Chant
|Betty Ida Roots and Donald A. Chant, Special Places: The Changing Ecosystems of the Toronto Region
|Finalist
|-
|
|Young Men
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2001
|
|'
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
| and Vincenzo Pietropaolo
|Kensington
|Finalist
|-
|
|Dragons Cry
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="6" |2002
|
|Courage My Love
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Run Over: A Boy, His Mother and An Accident
|Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|thirsty
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
| and Emily Pohl-Weary
|Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2004
|
|Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould
|Winner
|rowspan=2|
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
|
|Mme. Proust and the Kosher Kitchen
|Winner
|-
| and John de Visser
|Old Toronto Houses
|Finalist
|rowspan=3|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2005
|
|Natasha and Other Stories
|Winner
|
|-
| and Nancy L. Backhouse
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Raymond and Hannah
|Finalist
|-
| and Alana Wilcox (eds.)
|uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto
|Finalist
|-
|
|When She Was Queen
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2007
|
|Consolation
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Inside Toronto: Urban Interiors 1880s to 1920s
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Toronto
|Finalist
|-
|
|Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
|Finalist
|-
|
|Uptown Downtown
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2008
|
|Loyalty Management
|Winner
|
|-
|
|And Beauty Answers: The Life of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Barnacle Love
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Girls Fall Down
|Finalist
|-
|
|Unbuilt Toronto
|Finalist
|-
|
|In the Land of Long Fingernails
|Finalist
|}
2010s
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width=100%
|+Toronto Book Awards winners and finalists, 2010-2019
!Year
!Author
!Title
!Result
!Ref.
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2010
|
|'
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Valentine's Fall
|Finalist
|-
|
|Where We Have to Go
|Finalist
|-
|
|Diary of Interrupted Days
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2011
|
|'
|Winner
|
|-
|
|What Disturbs Our Blood
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Étienne's Alphabet
|Finalist
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
|-
|
|Fauna
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2012
|
|Copernicus Avenue
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Six Metres of Pavement
|Finalist
|-
|
|Writing the Revolution
|Finalist
|-
|
|Paramita, Little Black
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2013
|
|Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes
|Winner
|
|-
| and Shawn Micallef
|Full Frontal T.O.
|Finalist
| rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Viewing Tom Thomson, A Minority Report
|Finalist
|-
|
|Giant
|Finalist
|-
|
|Everybody Has Everything
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2014
|
|'
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Kicking the Sky
|Finalist
| rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Fifteen Dogs
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Men of Action
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|I Hear She's a Real Bitch
|Finalist
| rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Scarborough
|Finalist
|-
|, Jane Farrow, Stephanie Chambers, Maureen FitzGerald, Tim McCaskell, Rebecka Sheffield, Tatum Taylor, Rahim Thawer, and Ed Jackson
|Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer
|Finalist
|-
|
|Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2018
|
|Brother
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|Finalist
| rowspan=4|
|-
|
|That Time I Loved You
|Finalist
|-
|
|My Conversations with Canadians
|Finalist
|-
|
|Floating City
|Finalist
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2019
|
|Theory
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Be With: Letters to a Caregiver
|Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|In the Beggarly Style of Imitation
|rowspan=4| Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
| and Georgia Webbe
|Dancing after TEN
|-
|
|'
|-
|
|Frying Plantain
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="6" |2021
|
|Speak, Silence
|Winner
|
|-
|
|Æther: An Out-of-Body Lyric
|rowspan=5| Finalist
|rowspan=5|
|-
|
|Swimmers in Winter
|-
|
|Crosshairs
|-
|
|Missing from the Village
|-
|
|On Property
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2022
|
|Run Towards the Danger
|Winner
|
|-
|
|'
|rowspan=4| Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Nomenclature
|rowspan=4| Finalist
|rowspan=4|
|-
|
|Wildfires
|-
|
|Finding Edward
|-
|
|Clara at the Door with a Revolver
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
! rowspan="5" |2024
| Maurice Vellekoop
| I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together
| Winner
|
|-
| Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio
| Reuniting with Strangers
| rowspan=4| Finalist
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Kristen den Hartog
| The Roosting Box
|-
| Connie Gault
| The Rasmussen Papers
|-
| Paul McLaughlin
| The Suicide Magnet: Inside the Battle to Erect a Safety Barrier on Toronto’s Bloor Viaduct
|-
! rowspan="7" |2025
|- style="background:#FAEB86"
| Maggie Helwig
| Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community
| Winner
|
|-
| André Alexis
| Other Worlds
| rowspan=5| Finalist
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Vinh Nguyen
| The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse
|-
| Roza Nozari
| All the Parts We Exile
|-
| Chika Stacy Oriuwa
| Unlike the Rest: A Doctor's Story
|-
| Tanya Talaga
| The Knowing
|-
|}
References
External links
- Toronto Book Awards (City of Toronto Web site)