The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People is given annually to the author of an exceptional body of work in children's literature. The winner is selected by a three-member, independent judging panel.
2020 Winner
Marianne Dubuc
Jury Citation
“Marianne Dubuc has created an unforgettable and enchanting oeuvre of stories. Funny and intimate, her books orbit the deepest of subjects, casting questions of friendship, loneliness, change, and loss, with the lightest of lines and quietest grace. Many writers for children are frightened of the blank page but Dubuc uses white space and silence with great confidence, demonstrating a profound respect for her young readers. She knows children are sage and curious and holders of immense feeling. She knows, as children know, that a story is often what happens between words. She lets us all in.
‘You’re welcome to stay with me,’ Lion says in The Lion and the Bird. And we reply, ‘Yes. I think we will.’
With this award, we are delighted to celebrate and honour a writer and illustrator whose quiet brilliance is showcased in a body of work that includes, thus far, more than a dozen picture books available in both her langue maternelle, French, and in English translation, in Canada and around the world.”
— 2020 Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People Jury (Caroline Adderson, Kyo Maclear, and Susan Perren)
The goal of the Metcalf Foundation is to enhance the effectiveness of people and organizations working together to help Canadians imagine and build a just, healthy and creative society. Vicky Metcalf created this award in 1963 to stimulate the writing of literature for Canadian children. She held a passion for storytelling and published several children’s books. The prize has been administered by the Writers’ Trust since 2002.
“There’s nothing like being the author of the first book a kid ever reads or remembers—and all of us remember our favourite children’s book. ”