A York University graduate has taken historical documents on slavery and turned them into a compelling piece of fiction, earning her North America's most coveted literary award for women and non-binary writers.
Canisia Lubrin, a graduate of York's Creative Writing program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is the recipient of the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her debut fiction work CODE NOIR. The award was announced May 1.
Canisia Lubrin (photo: The Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes)
The book is a collection of 59 linked stories that correspond to the 59 articles of the "Code Noir" decrees issued in 1685 by King Louis XIV that defined conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The novel blends contemporary realism, dystopia, futuristic fantasy and historical fiction, featuring characters who seek liberation from historical constraints.
CODE NOIR features black-and-white illustrations by acclaimed visual artist Torkwase Dyson and was published by Knopf Canada with an audiobook produced by Penguin Random House.
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 2023, aims to address gender inequality in the literary world by celebrating fiction written by women and non-binary authors in Canada and the United States. The winner receives $150,000 USD and four finalists are awarded $12,500 USD. Winners are also offered support through mentorship, scholarship and residency opportunities.
Lubrin has earned an impressive collection of literary honours throughout her career, establishing herself as one of Canada's most celebrated contemporary writers.
Lubrin's debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis (Wolsak & Wynn, 2017) was named a CBC Best Book, launching her into literary prominence.
Her subsequent poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst (McClelland & Stewart, 2020) earned three major awards: the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Poetry and Literature, the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize and the Derek Walcott Prize.
In 2020, she received the Canada Council's Joseph S. Stauffer prize for literary achievement, recognizing her exceptional contribution to Canadian literature. That same year, she was awarded the distinguished Windham-Campbell prize, celebrating her body of work.
Lubrin's writing has been shortlisted for numerous other prestigious awards, including the Governor General's Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Trillium Book Award for Poetry. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies that were finalists for both the Toronto Book Award and the Shirley Jackson Award, and she has twice been longlisted for the Journey Prize.
In 2021, the Globe & Mail named Lubrin Poet of the Year, further cementing her status as an important voice in Canadian literature.
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
