Stphane Larue wins $60K Amazon First Novel Award for The Dishwasher

Quebec writer Stphane Laruehas won theAmazon First Novel Award forThe Dishwasher.

The Dishwasher, which was originally published in French in 2016, was translated byPablo Strauss.

The $60,000 prize, established in 1976, honours the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of Canada.

Larue had the least glamorous job at a restaurant a dishwasher. But it gave him an inside look at the hard-living characters working in frenetic, stress-filled kitchens. He turned those experiences intoThe Dishwasher, whichtakes the reader into the demi-monde of restaurant kitchens.

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The French version of the book,Le Plongeur,won thePrix des libraires du Qubec and thePrix Senghorand was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction.

The in-person awards ceremonywas cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The five remainingfinalists each receive $6,000. They were:

• The Western Alienation Merit BadgebyNancy Jo Cullen
• Going DutchbyJames Gregor
• MooncalvesbyVictoria Hetherington
• AriabyNazanine Hozar
• When We Were VikingsbyAndrew David MacDonald

This year's jury was comprisedof Liz Harmer, Shani Mootooand Anakana Schofield.

The winner of the youth short story category is 17-year-old Cate Freeborn for her story74 Percent of the Victims of Nonfamily Abductions are Girls.

She will receive $5,000 and an opportunity to workshop their writing with editors from the Walrus.

The jurorfor the youth short story category wasChelene Knight.

Casey Plett wonthe 2019 Amazon First Novel AwardforLittle Fish.

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Other past winners include Michael Ondaatje, Joy Kogawa, W. P. Kinsella and Andr Alexis.