Doug Wright Award
The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning, handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, are literary awards given to Canadian cartoonists. Honouring excellence in comics and graphic novels published in English, the awards are named in honour of Canadian cartoonist Doug Wright. Winners are selected by a jury of Canadians who have made significant contributions to national culture, based on shortlisted selections provided by a nominating committee of five experts in the comics field.
The Wright Awards are handed out in four categories:
- The Doug Wright Award for Best Book
- The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for Emerging Talent
- The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for Best Small- or Micro-press Book
- The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for Best Kids’ Book
In addition to the awards, since 2005 the organizers annually induct at least one cartoonist into the Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartoonist Hall Fame.
The Wright Awards are modeled after traditional book prizes, with the intention of drawing attention to the comics medium from a broad range of demographics inside and outside of its traditional fanbase. The Wrights have garnered acclaim as well as earning the support of a diverse range of participating artists and jurors including Scott Thompson, Don McKellar, Bruce McDonald, Jerry Ciccoritti, Bob Rae, Andrew Coyne, Sara Quin, Greg Morrison, Chester Brown, Lorenz Peter, and Nora Young.
Awards
The Best Book and The Nipper awards are large wood-and-glass trophies which are engraved with images from Wright's comic strip. The award were designed by the cartoonist Seth, who admitted to some embarrassment at being the inaugural winner of the trophy he designed. The Pigskin Peters Award, named in honour of a character from Jimmy Frise's Birdseye Center, is a custom, tailored derby hat with its own unique plaque that doubles as a hat post. It was also designed by Seth.Each recipient of a Doug Wright Award also receives a custom-bound copy of their winning work.
Nominees & Winners
2024
Source:The Doug Wright Award for best book
- WINNER - A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll
- Val-d’Or Neon by Olivier Ballou
- Harvey Knight's Odyssey by Nick Maandag
- Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman by Éloïse Marseille
- Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
- JAJ by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- WINNER - Vincy Lim for When I was a kid I was taught how to die. Now that I'm an adult I'm learning how to live. and When She Set Fire to My Friends’ Houses
- James Collier for The Lonesome Shepherd
- Syd Madia for Syd Madia's Dracula
- Christopher Twin for Bad Medicine
- Kyle Vingoe-Cram for Kettle Harbour
- WINNER - Old Caves by Tyler Landry
- Endsickness No. 2 by Sofia Alarcon
- The Lonesome Shepherd by James Collier
- Power 9: Part One by John Little and David Little
- Index by Sven, Rachel Evangeline Chiong, and Joyce Kim
- WINNER - Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier
- ThunderBoom by Jack Briglio and Claudia Dávila
- Pluto Rocket: New in Town by Paul Gilligan
- Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks
- Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin
2023
The Doug Wright Award for best book
- WINNER - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
- Time Zone J by Julie Doucet
- Shelterbelts by Jonathan Dyck
- The Flamingo by Guojing
- Kwändürby Cole Pauls
- You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth
- WINNER - Jonathan Dyck for Shelterbelts
- Emily Carrington for Our Little Secret
- Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet for We Were Younger Once
- Lynette Richards for Call Me Bill
- Adam de Souza for Blind Alley No. 1, ISH
- WINNER - Where Have You Been? by Ivana Filipovich
- The Life I Want by Patrick Allaby
- Assorted Baggage by Matthew Daley
- Butterfly House by Troy Little and Brenda Hickey
- Thousand Oaks: Machine Mail by Blaise Moritz
- WINNER - You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth
- Scout is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong
- Paws: Mindy Makes Some Space by Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn
- Super Family! by Cale Atkinson
- The Flamingo by Guojing
2022
The Doug Wright Award for best book
- WINNER - The Shiatsung Project by Brigitte Archambault
- Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal
- The Rock From the Sky by Jon Klassen
- Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
- Fictional Father by Joe Ollmann
- WINNER - Sami Alwani for The Pleasure of the Text.
- Sofia Alarcon for Endsickness No. 1
- Brigitte Archambault for The Shiatsung Project
- Alexander Laird for Sleemor Gank: Burg Land No. 1
- Kyle Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen for Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’ and Pass Me By: Electric Vice
- WINNER - Dwellings No. 2 by Jay Stephens
- Endsickness No. 1 by Sofia Alarcon
- Fruit/Soil by Kim Edgar
- The Northern Gaze by Akeeshoo Chislett, Chris Caldwell, Cole Pauls, Andrew Sharp, Juliann Fraser, Esther Bordet, Alison McCreesh, Keith Verbonac, Princess J; edited by Kim Edgar
- Sleemor Gank: Burg Land No. 1 by Alexander Laird
- WINNER - Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz
- Simon and Chester: Super Sleepover! by Cale Atkinson
- Otter Lagoon by Mike Deas and Nancy
- Living with Viola by Rosena Fung
- Over the Shop by JonArno Lawson and Qin Leng
- Etty Darwin and the Four Pebble Problem by Lauren Soloy
2021
- WINNER - Lonely Boys by S. Bédard
- Familiar Face by Michael DeForge
- Constantly by GG
- Paul at Home by Michel Rabagliati
- Wendy, Master of Art by Walter Scott
- WINNER - Veronica Post for Langosh & Peppi: Fugitive Days
- Adam de Souza for A Gleaming No. 2
- Kimberly Edgar for The Space In Between
- Courtney Loberg for We Don't Go Through the Angelgrass
- Shannon M. Reeves for Restless Bones
- WINNER - The Noiseless Din by Scott Carruthers
- The Desecration by Scott Carruthers and Sally McKay
- A Gleaming No. 2 by Adam de Souza
- The Space In Between by Kimberly Edgar
- Awkward Pause by Ryan Harby
- WINNER - A Slug Story by Mandi Kujawa, Hana Kujawa, Claude St. Aubin, and Lovern Kindzierski Renegade Arts Entertainment
- The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler
- Okay, Universe: Chronicles of a Woman in Politics by Valérie Plante and Delphie Côté-Lacroix
- Grandmother School by Rina Singh and Ellen
- Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Thomas and Maya McKibbin
2020
- WINNER - Bezimena by Nina Bunjevac
- This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Sonny Assu, Brandon Mitchell, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, David A. Robertson, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Jen Storm, Richard Van Camp, Katherena Vermette, Chelsea Vowel, Tara Audibert, Kyle Charles, GMB Chomichuk, Natasha Donovan, Scott A. Ford, Scott B. Henderson, Ryan Howe, Andrew Lodwick, Jen Storm, Donovan Yaciuk, Alicia Elliott
- The Cursed Hermit by Kris Bertin, Alexander Forbes
- Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt
- Death Threat by Vivek Shraya, Ness Lee
- Bradley of Him by Connor Willumsen
- WINNER - Sylvia Nickerson for Creation
- D. Boyd for Chicken Rising
- Jason Bradshaw for Things Go Wrong
- Ben O’Neil for Apologetica
- Cole Pauls for Dakwäkãda Warriors
- WINNER - Gleem by Freddy Carrasco
- Boumeries, Vol. 9 by Boum
- Baby in the Boneyard by Jesse Jacobs
- Curb Angels by Lisa Mendis, Christopher Ducharme, Lucas C. Pauls
- Dejects by Jay Stephens
- WINNER - The Worst Book Ever by Elise Gravel
- Brick Breaks Free by David Craig
- Lunch Quest by Chris Kuzma
- Dakwäkãda Warriors by Cole Pauls
- Alma and the Beast by Esme Shapiro
2019
Doug Wright Best Book Award
- WINNER - Young Frances by Hartley Lin
- A Western World by Michael DeForge
- Evie and the Truth About Witches by John Martz
- Somnambulance by Fiona Smyth
- WINNER - Ariane Dénommé for 100 Days in Uranium City
- Aminder Dhaliwal for Woman World
- Al Gofa for Dark Angels of Darkness
- Victor Martins for Stay and You Don't Have To be Afraid of Me
- Sylvia Nickerson for All We Have Left Is This
- Eric Kostiuk Williams for Our Wretched Town Hall
- WINNER - Retomber by Xiaoxiao Li
- Eggshell 2 by William Dereume
- Winter's Cosmos by Michael Comeau
- Promising Jupiter by Ron Hotz
- 310, 310 by Mushbuh