Novelist Emily St. John Mandel wins 2015 Toronto Book Award

TORONTO, Oct. 15, 2015 /CNW/ - Emily St. John Mandel is the winner of the 2015 Toronto Book Award for her internationally acclaimed novel Station Eleven. The announcement was made this evening at an award ceremony held at the Toronto Reference Library.  

"Congratulations to Emily St. John Mandel and all of the finalists for creating works that elevate our experience of Toronto," said the Mayor's Arts Advocate, Councillor John Filion (Ward 23 Willowdale). "The diverse formats of the finalist's works are part of what makes these awards dynamic and unique."

Mandel's novel, Station Eleven (Harper Avenue), was chosen from a list of finalists that included André Alexis for his apologue Fifteen Dogs (Coach House Books); Margaret Atwood for her short fiction collection Stone Mattress (McClelland & Stewart); Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer for her novel All the Broken Things (Random House Canada); and Bruce McDougall for his non-fiction novel The Last Hockey Game (Goose Lane).

"From the opening pages of this riveting novel, where we are breathlessly seated in Toronto's Elgin Theatre, life and death unfold in a world both created and real. A remarkable achievement," said City Librarian Vickery Bowles.

Mandel is a Canadian author of four novels. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. Station Eleven has been nominated for the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. It recently won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Mandel lived in Toronto and attended the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She also lived in Montreal before relocating to Brooklyn, New York.    

This year marks the 41^st edition of the Toronto Book Awards. Produced by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Public Library, the awards honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. The annual awards offer $15,000 in prize money. Each finalist receives $1,000 and the winning author receives an additional $10,000 in prize money.

The 2015 Toronto Book Awards Committee includes Evan Munday, Diane Spivak, Tina Srebotnjak, Moez Surani and Karen Teeple (Chair), who volunteered their time to read all of the books and select the shortlist and winner from 95 submissions. 

More information about the awards is available at http://www.toronto.ca/book_awards and at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/tba. The public can also follow @TOBookAwards on Twitter. The Toronto Star is the media sponsor of the Toronto Book Awards.

Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 19 million people visit its branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow over 33 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit its website at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/tba or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. The public can also follow @torontolibrary on Twitter.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

SOURCE City of Toronto

Media contacts: Shane Gerard, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5711, [email protected]; Yvonne Hunter, Toronto Public Library, 416-393-7098, [email protected]