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The City of Toronto and the Toronto Public Library today named the five finalists for the 2015 Toronto Book Awards. Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, the awards honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. The finalists are: 

• André Alexis for his apologue (allegorical story) Fifteen Dogs published by Coach House Books
• Margaret Atwood for her collection of short stories Stone Mattress published by McClelland & Stewart 
• Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer for her novel All the Broken Things published by Random House Canada 
• Bruce McDougall for his work of dramatic non-fiction The Last Hockey Game published by Goose Lane 
• Emily St. John Mandel for her novel Station Eleven published by Harper Avenue

"Each year the Toronto Book Awards inspire us with great stories that enrich our experience of the city," said Mayor John Tory. 

"This is such an exciting shortlist,” said City Librarian Vickery Bowles. “I congratulate the finalists and encourage all Torontonians to check out a book at their local branch and celebrate the diversity of work represented on this list.” 

The winner of the 2015 Toronto Book Awards will be announced on Thursday, October 15 at the Toronto Reference Library's Bram and Bluma Appel Salon. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the free awards celebration starting at 7 p.m., hosted by CBC Radio's Gill Deacon. Tickets can be reserved on the library website four weeks in advance of the event. 

The shortlisted authors will read from their books at The Word On The Street book and magazine festival on Sunday, September 27 at Harbourfront Centre from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Four authors from Diaspora Dialogues will join the program at 2 p.m. for a talk entitled The Story Behind the Book: Four Writers on How They Got Published. Diaspora Dialogues supports writing that reflects Toronto's diverse artistic and literary culture. 

The shortlisted authors will also participate in a reading at North York Central Library (5120 Yonge St.) on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m. At all of the above events, author Lynn Crosbie will read for Margaret Atwood and Emily St. John Mandel's editor, Jennifer Lambert, will read for St. John Mandel. 

The annual Toronto Book Awards offer $15,000 in prize money. Each finalist will receive $1,000, while the winning author receives the remaining prize money. The 2015 Toronto Book Awards Committee includes volunteer members Evan Munday, Diane Spivak, Tina Srebotnjak, Moez Surani and Karen Teeple (Chair). More information about the awards, reading events and what the jury members said about the shortlisted books is available at toronto.ca/book_awards . 

The Toronto Star is the official media sponsor of the Toronto Book Awards. 

Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow over 33 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca/tba or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. For all the latest buzz about the library, follow @torontolibrary on Twitter. 

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms. 

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Media contacts: 
Shane Gerard, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5711, sgerard@toronto.ca 
Yvonne Hunter, Toronto Public Library, 416-393-7098, yhunter@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Shane Gerard
Strategic Communications
416-397-5711
sgerard@toronto.ca