Award History
Jury Citation
“At the heart of Prairie Edge is a resonant act of defiance that encapsulates the history, landscape, and vision of the Métis people. Kerr writes out of a deep sympathy for the Great Plains and its people, expanding the map of a prairie city to take in the tent settlements, the rehab centre, and the terrain of the vanished bison. Kerr’s main characters — two young people whose lives have been shaped by dislocation and violence — are achingly real. With a masterful grasp of pace and story, Kerr traces their extraordinary friendship, illuminating the costs of loyalty and the risks and rewards of engaging with the past. Prairie Edge is eloquent, humane, and far-seeing. An essential Canadian story.”—2024 Atwood Gibson WT Fiction Prize jury (Saeed Teebi, Joan Thomas, and Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike)