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American author V. V. Ganeshananthan wins prestigious Carol Shields Prize for Fiction

TORONTO — U.S. author V. V. Ganeshananthan has won the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000.
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U.S. author V. V. Ganeshananthan poses in this undated handout photo. Ganeshananthan's novel "Brotherless Night" has won the US$150,000 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Sophia Mayrhofer

TORONTO — U.S. author V. V. Ganeshananthan has won the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000.

Her book "Brotherless Night," published by Random House, was described by jurors as an ambitious and beautifully written novel about a young doctor caught in Sri Lanka's civil war.

Ganeshananthan was named the winner at a Toronto gala for the prize, billed as the largest English-language literary prize in the world for women and non-binary authors. 

Ganeshananthan, an instructor at the University of Minnesota, also won a coveted residency at the Fogo Island Inn on the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Other finalists – who each received $12,500 – included 91Ô­´´s Janika Oza for "A History of Burning," Claudia Dey for "Daughter" and 91Ô­´´-born, New Zealand-raised Eleanor Catton for "Birnam Wood."

U.S. author Kim Coleman Foote was also on the short list for her novel "Coleman Hill."

This report by The 91Ô­´´ Press was first published May 13, 2024.

The 91Ô­´´ Press