Ugandan-Canadian writer Otoniya J. Okot Bitek has been shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for her novel We, The Kindling published by Alchemy by Knopf Canada.
She joins five other authors whose works were selected from 120 submissions across the globe for the annual award that recognizes the best novel or short story collection by a Canadian author.
Otoniya J. Okot Bitek, is a Kenyan-born, Ugandan-raised diasporic writer and academic who lives, studies, and works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is best known for her poetry book 100 Days, a reflection on the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu people were killed. She has also contributed to several anthologies, including New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (2019), edited by Margaret Busby.
The Writers’ Trust of Canada is an organization that is dedicated to empowering and supporting Canadian writers through literary awards, fellowships, financial grants, mentorships and more. Also, it gives out 11 prizes in recognition of the year’s best in fiction, nonfiction and short story, as well as mid-career and lifetime achievement awards.
On 13th November, 2025, the winner of the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize will be announced at the Writers’ Trust awards gala in Toronto.
Congratulations, Otoniya J. Okot Bitek!
Sarah Adeyemo
Sarah Adeyemo, Swan IX, is a Nigerian poet, writer, editor, spoken word artiste and communication expert. The debut author of “The Shape of Silence”. She draws inspiration from solitude and experiences. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Her works appeared or are forthcoming in Akpata Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, Poems For Persons Interest, TV-63 Magazine, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere. She tweets @SarahInkspires.
