The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a literary award given annually to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of Canada. It has been awarded since 1976.
The First Novel Award was founded by the literary magazine Books in Canada. Between 1976 and 1994, the award was sponsored by SmithBooks. During this period, the award was known as the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award. When SmithBooks was acquired by Chapters, it became the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
The award was reorganized when Books in Canada was acquired by Adrian and Olga Stein in 1995. The Steins retained a first novel editor, introduced a comprehensive first novel review program, and formalized the adjudication process. In 1999, the magazine decided to end its affiliation with Chapters and became the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award. The Amazon.com arrangement saw the prize award doubled to $10,000.
The award was sold to Amazon.com in 2009 and its name was changed to the current incarnation.
Winners and nominees
At different times in its history, the award has been presented early in the year for works published in the preceding year, late in the year for works published in the same year as the presentation, or mid-year for an eligibility period that straddled parts of both years. For clarity, the list below is organized by the year of presentation rather than the year of publication eligibility.