Skip to content

Martha
Brooks

Award History

Jury Citation

“Winnipeg playwright, short story writer, and novelist Martha Brooks has a body of published work that spans 20 years. Her novels and short stories for the young adult reader push the boundaries of the YA genre in terms of character, situation, and theme, the result of which are works notable for their depth and resonance. Love, loss, grief, sexual identity, jealousy, intergenerational conflict, and attachments are some of the ‘problems’ that Brooks’s fully-realized, keenly-observed primary and secondary characters, many of whom are marginalized or ‘in trouble,’ confront and work through. The landscape and weather of the Canadian prairies, as well as the depiction of place, all beautifully evoked by Brooks, are central to her work and play no small part in its lyrical, often transcendent quality.”
— 2007 Vicky Metcalf Award Jury (Nora Flynn, Jean Little, and Susan Perren)