TheDoug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (established in December 2004),[1] handed out annually since 2005 during theToronto Comic Arts Festival, are literary awards given toCanadiancartoonists. Honouring excellence in comics (including webcomics) and graphic novels published in English (including translated works),[2] the awards are named in honour of Canadian cartoonistDoug Wright.[3] 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.[4]
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 (formerly known as "The Spotlight Award")
The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for Best Small- or Micro-press Book (first awarded in 2008; it was formerly awarded for "experimental, non-traditional or avant-garde comics," though these books are still considered "especially welcome in this category"[5]);[6]
The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for Best Kids’ Book (first awarded in 2020; for young readers ages 0-12)[7]
The Best Book and The Nipper (Spotlight) awards are large wood-and-glass trophies which are engraved with images from Wright's comic strip (the one difference being the images that are etched on the glass). The award were designed by the cartoonistSeth, who admitted to some embarrassment at being the inaugural winner of the trophy he designed.[10] The Pigskin Peters Award, named in honour of a character fromJimmy Frise'sBirdseye 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.
WINNER - Vincy Lim forWhen I was a kid I was taught how to die. Now that I'm an adult I'm learning how to live. (I love you.) andWhen She Set Fire to My Friends’ Houses (Self-published)
James Collier forThe Lonesome Shepherd (Wig Shop)
Syd Madia forSyd Madia's Dracula (Self-published)
Christopher Twin forBad Medicine (Emanata/Conundrum)
Endsickness No. 1 by Sofia Alarcon (Self-published)
Fruit/Soil by Kim Edgar (Moniker Press)
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 (Hecate Press)
Sleemor Gank: Burg Land No. 1 by Alexander Laird (Self-published)
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 (HighWater Press)
Emily Carroll for "The Seven Windows" (fromThe Anthology Project vol. 2), "Margot's Room" and "The Prince & the Sea" (and other comics at emcarroll.com/comic)
Betty Liang forWet T-shirt #1, "It's Only a Secret if You Don't Tell Anyone" (in š! #9), "Anna Freud's Recurring Dream" (and other comics at bettyliang.tumblr.com)
Winners of the 2010 Doug Wright Awards were announced on May 8, 2010 in the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon in theToronto Reference Library, during a ceremony hosted by actorPeter Outerbridge.
Winners of the 2009 Doug Wright Awards were announced on May 9, 2009 at theArt Gallery of Ontario during a ceremony hosted by actor and directorDon McKellar.[16]
2008 saw the introduction of a new category dedicated to works that fall outside the bounds of traditional storytelling. Named after a character in the classic Canadian comic stripBirdseye Center, the Pigskin Peters Award recognizes experimental and avant-garde comics.
^"Canadian cartoonists honoured in Toronto".cbc.ca. CBC News. 2005-05-30. Retrieved2020-05-05.Named after one of Canada's most prolific cartoonists, the awards were established to honour excellence in artistic or alternative comics.
^Howard, Dave (February 26, 2010)."Interview with Brad Mackay, Doug Wright Awards Co-Founder".davehoward.ca. Dave Howard. RetrievedMay 4, 2020.We have a nominating committee, which we're in the process of putting together now. We have usually five people – an odd number – made up of people from across the spectrum. So we have Jeet Heer, Chester Brown, Jerry Ciccoritti, we have Sean Rogers who writes a comics blog for The Walrus, and then Bryan Munn, a retailer and critic from Guelph. So we have those guys on it for this year on the nominating committee.(...) And then from that point we choose our prize jury from a wider cross section of society and we throw them in "The Thunderdome" as we like to call it. We have another dinner with those people and they pick the winners. We tend to have two or three comics-based people on that jury and then the rest are kind of balanced off.
^Wong, Jessica (2008-08-09)."Rising cartoonists, Lynn Johnston feted at comic book awards".cbc.ca. CBC News. Retrieved2018-10-21.A new prize designed to recognize non-traditional or more experimental works, entitled the Pigskin Peters Award, went to Vancouver illustrator Julie Morstad for her first comic work Milk Teeth.
^Munn, B.K. (2019-12-09)."Wright Awards Announces New Kids' Book Category".sequentialpulp.ca. Sequential: Canadian Comix News and Culture. Retrieved2020-05-05.The award will be called "The Egghead", named for Doug Wright's preferred name for his Nipper character.
^"Canadian cartoonists honoured in Toronto".cbc.ca. CBC News. 2005-05-30. Retrieved2020-05-05.Organizers also inducted Wright and four other cartoonists into a hall of fame entitled Giants of the North.
^Howard, Dave (February 26, 2010)."Interview with Brad Mackay, Doug Wright Awards Co-Founder".davehoward.ca. Dave Howard. RetrievedMay 4, 2020.We try and reach out to the wider culture as much as possible in everything we do. This also extends to our ceremony, which we insist is "jeans-free" – at least for the organizers and presenters. So it's a costume-free zone. As a result, we've had some nice things said about us.
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