Jasmine Sealy has won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award for "The Island of Forgetting." Sealy is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ben Gardere *MANDATORY CREDIT*
TORONTO – An intergenerational saga about a family that runs a beachfront hotel has won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award.
Jasmine Sealy took home the $60,000 prize for “The Island of Forgetting.”
The book, which is loosely inspired by Greek mythology, follows four generations of the family as they grapple with their past and try to shape their future.
The Vancouver-based Sealy was awarded the prize at an event at The Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto on Wednesday evening.
The other shortlisted authors, who each receive $6,000, include Billy-Ray Belcourt for “A Minor Chorus” and André Forget for “In The City of Pigs.”
Rounding out the short list are Jessica Johns for “Bad Cree,” William Ping for “Hollow Bamboo” and Kai Thomas for “In the Upper Country.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023.
