Canada-Japan Literary Awards 2010
Nomination Deadline
30 April 2010
Description of Awards
The Canada-Japan Literary Awards recognize literary excellence by Canadian writers who are writing on Japan, Japanese themes, or themes that promote mutual understanding between Japan and Canada. It also recognizes literary excellence by Canadian translators of such books from Japanese into English or French.
The funds for the Canada-Japan Literary Awards come from the investment returns on that portion of the Japan-Canada Fund set aside as an endowment, in perpetuity, for a literary award. Up to $20,000 is available in 2010 for these literary awards.
Eligibility
Awards will be given for literary excellence to Canadian authors of published, first-edition trade books of fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama. The authors’ books may be in English or French and must be on Japan, Japanese themes, or themes that promote mutual understanding between Japan and Canada. Canadian translators of works in the same genres, translated from Japanese into English or French, are also eligible.
To be eligible for this award, authors and translators must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
This Canada Council award is accessible to Aboriginal artists and artists from diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Books must have been published professionally, between 1 April 2008 and 30 April 2010, to be submitted for the 2010 awards competition.
To meet the Canada Council’s definition, professional book publishers must:
- publish books based on an editorial selection process
- pay royalties or financially compensate the author, illustrator or translator for any submitted book
- use appropriate and effective means to market, distribute and create public awareness of their titles, and
- meet basic professional standards of publishing.
Nominated books may have been published in Canada or abroad, but they must have an ISBN, be distributed in Canada and be available in Canadian bookstores. They must be at least 48 pages long.
Restrictions
The following books are not eligible:
- selections and collections of poetry, short stories, essays and plays containing material that has previously been awarded a Canada-Japan Literary Award
- self-published books
- textbooks or instruction guides, academic and scholarly publications, illustrated (coffee-table) books, how-to and self-help books, guidebooks, cookbooks, exhibition catalogues, film scripts, testimonials, journals, transcripts of interviews, collected letters, directories, reference books or bibliographies, and books of minimal critical content
- anthologies of the works of more than one author
- books whose author or translator is deceased at the time of publication, and
- commissioned works or works for which the writer does not receive compensation for the use of his or her intellectual property.
Amount of Awards
Two awards valued at $10,000 each may be given: one for an English-language book and one for a French-language book.
Nomination Process
Authors and translators may not submit their own published books for this award: they must be nominated by a professional book publisher.
Publishers must use the attached Publisher’s Nomination Form for the Canada-Japan Literary Awards to nominate a book on behalf of the author or translator.
A separate form must be completed for each eligible book. The completed form, with the required copies of the book, must be sent to Endowments and Prizes, Canada Council for the Arts.
An eligible book may be nominated to either the English-language component or the French-language component, but not to both.
Nomination Form
Canada-Japan Literary Awards 2010 Guidelines and Nomination Form (pdf format)
Further Information
Luisa Guglielmo, Program Officer
Endowments and Prizes
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4086
TTY: 1-866-585-5559
Fax: 613-566-4430
February 2010