Sidura Ludwig, Gordon Korman among winners for $10K Vine Awards
The Vine Awards honour the best Canadian authors who deal with Jewish subjects in five literary categories
Sidura Ludwig, Sharon Kirsch, Myriam Steinberg and Gordon Korman are the winners of the 2021 Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature.
The Vine Awards honour Canadian authors who deal with Jewish subjects in the categories of fiction, history, non-fiction, young adult and children's literature and poetry.
Each winning author will receive $10,000. Awards in all categories are given annually, with the exception of poetry, which is awarded every three years.
Sidura Ludwig won in the fiction category for her novel You Are Not What We Expected.
You Are Not What We Expected chronicles the lives of a multi-generational family and their neighbours over a span of 15 years.
"I've always seen writing as an outlet for me to explore my own identity," said Ludwig in an interview with CBC Books. "In reading the book, you'll get the opportunity to step into different homes and to sit with those families for a while."
Ludwig is a writer based in Toronto. She is also the author of the novel Holding My Breath.
Sharon Kirsch took home the history award for her novel The Smallest Objective.
The story is a personal memoir about a daughter's last days caring for her elderly mother. When emptying the family home, the daughter discovers a series of objects that unlock her family's past.
"With poetic prose … Kirsch has a microscopic attention to detail that matches with the theme of objects put under scrutiny to divine secrets," the Vine Awards jury said in a press release.
Kirsch is a fiction and narrative non-fiction author based in Toronto.
The non-fiction award was given to Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of (In)fertility, written by Myriam Steinberg with illustrations by Christache. Catalogue Baby shares Steinberg's story of trying to conceive a child without a partner.
"Steinberg leads the reader through the emotional and physical roller coaster of getting pregnant," said the Vine Awards jury in a press release, "all underpinned by humour and determination."
Steinberg is an author based in Vancouver.
Gordon Korman won the young adult and children's literature award for his book War Stories.
The book delves into the history of the Second World War through the story of Trevor and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is described as a "true-blue, bona fide war hero."
The story "brings WWII history to life in an engaging way that is accessible for young readers without glamourizing or sugar-coating the horrors of war," said the Vine Awards jury in a press release.
Korman is a children's and YA fiction author from Toronto.
LISTEN | Gordon Korman on writing for kids:
The 2021 Vine Awards jury, formed by authors Zelda Abramson, Nathan Adler and Naomi K. Lewis, reviewed 42 entries in four categories. The winners were announced at an online awards ceremony on Nov. 23, 2021.
Originally established in 2004, the Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature, presented by the Koffler Centre of the Arts, are supported by the Lillian and Norman Glowinsky Family Foundation.
