David Chariandy, Tanya Talaga up for prizes at tonight’s Writers’ Trust Awards

Chariandy is on the short list for “Brother,” about siblings in a Toronto housing complex who confront violence and prejudice. (Photo: Writers’ Trust of Canada/Facebook)

TORONTO— Canada’s literary community will come together tonight for the Writers’ Trust Awards in Toronto.

David Chariandy and Omar El Akkad are among the finalists for the fiction prize, which was doubled in amount this year to $50,000.

Chariandy is on the short list for “Brother,” about siblings in a Toronto housing complex who confront violence and prejudice.

El Akkad is nominated for the political thriller “American War.”

The other finalists in the fiction category include Claire Cameron for “The Last Neanderthal,” Carleigh Baker with “Bad Endings” and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson for “This Accident of Being Lost.”

The finalists will receive $5,000 each.

Finalists for the $60,000 nonfiction prize include Tanya Talaga’s “Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City” and Carol Off’s “All We Leave Behind: A Reporter’s Journey into the Lives of Others.”

The non-fiction short list is rounded out by Ivan Coyote’s “Tomboy Survival Guide,” Kyo Maclear’s “Birds Art Life” and James Maskalyk’s “Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine.”

There are also awards for poetry and young people’s literature, as well as trophies for lifetime achievement and for new writers.