The Francesco Giuseppe Bressani Literary Prize is a biennial award created by the Italian Cultural Centre Society of Vancouver in 1986. It was created to promote and honour Canadian writers of Italian descent. There are $1000 prizes for poetry (at least 20 poems), fiction (minimum 50 pages) and short fiction (minimum 8000 characters). A fourth "special category" prize has been given out since 2006. Works are eligible if published from January 1 of one year to March 31 of the next year. Submissions must be from Canadian citizens or permanent residents of 16 or older who have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy, and can be in Italian, English or French. The Prize is named after the Italian Jesuit missionary

Francesco Giuseppe Bressani Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: Pe ...

. The Prize was discontinued in 1995, but the Italian Cultural Centre appointed a new F.G. Bressani Committee in 2000 when it was reinstated.

Winners

1986 *''From the Frontier to the Little Italies: The Italians in Canada 1800-1941'' by Robert F. Harney' 1988 *''Forty Days and Forty Nights'' (poetry in English) by

John Terpstra John Terpstra (born in Brockville, Ontario) is a Canadian poet and carpenter. During much of his childhood, he lived in Edmonton, Alberta, but moved back to Ontario to attend high school in Hamilton, where he lives today. Released a spoken-wo ...

*''In the Skin of a Lion'' (prose in English) by Michael Ondaatje *''Autostrada per la Luna'' (poetry in Italian) by Silvano Zumaro 1990 *''Ink from an Octopus'' (poetry) by Len Gasparini *''The Lives of the Saints'' (prose) by

Nino Ricci Nino Pio Ricci (born 1959) is a Canadian novelist who lives in Toronto, Ontario.Nino Ricci's
...

1992 *''Life in Another Language'' (poetry) by Liliane Welch *''A Planet of Eccentrics ''(prose) by Ven Begamudre 1994 *''Gardening in the Tropics'' (poetry) by

Olive Senior Olive Marjorie Senior (born 23 December 1941) is a Jamaican poet, novelist, short story and non-fiction writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal in 2005 by the Institute of Jamaica for her contributions ...

*''The Book of Secrets'' (prose) by

M.G. Vassanji Moyez G. Vassanji (born 30 May 1950 in Kenya) is a Canadian novelist and editor, who writes under the name M. G. Vassanji. Vassanji's work has been translated into several languages. As of 2020, he has published nine novels, as well as two sho ...

1996, 1998 Hiatus 2000 *''Interference'' (poetry) by Concetta Principe *''The City of Yes'' (novel) by

Peter Oliva Peter Oliva (born 1964), is a Canadian novelist who lives in Calgary, Alberta. His first novel, ''Drowning in Darkness'' (1993–1999), won the Writers Guild of Alberta Best First Book Award and was shortlisted for a Bressani Prize. The book is ...

*''The Closer We Are to Dying'' (short fiction) by

Joe Fiorito Joe Fiorito is a Canadian journalist and author. Early life Fiorito was born June 22, 1948 in Fort William, Ontario. His father was a mailman and a musician. His mother was a waitress. He had three brothers. He wrote about his family life in the ...

2002 *''Selected Poems'' (poetry) by Fulvio Caccia *''Winter in Montreal'' (novel) by Pietro Corsi *''Fabrizio's Passion'' (novel) by

Antonio D'Alfonso Antonio D'Alfonso (born 6 August 1953)Filippo Salvatore, ''Ancient Memories, Modern Identities''. Guernica Editions, 1999. . is a Canadian writer, editor, publisher, and filmmaker, best known as the founder of Guernica Editions. Biography Anton ...

*''Breaking the Mould'' (short fiction) by

Penny Petrone Dr. Penny Serafina Petrone (1925 – August 22, 2005) was a Canadian writer, educator, patron of the arts, and philanthropist. Early life and education She was the daughter of Luisa Sisco and Luigi Petrone and sister to the lawyer Alfred Petrone ...

2004 *''Ariadne's Thread'' (poetry) by

Carmelo Militano Carmelo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Carmelo Anthony (born 1984), American basketball player * Carmelo Antrone Lee (born 1977), Puerto Rican basketball player * Carmelo Bene (1937-2002), Italian director, actor, ph ...

*''Italian Shoes'' (novel) by

Frank G. Paci Frank G. Paci is an Italian-Canadian novelist and former teacher who lives in the Toronto area. He has published 13 books under the name F.G. Paci. Biography He was born in Pesaro, Italy, 1948, and immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1952 ...

2006 *''With English Subtitles'' (poetry) by

Carmine Starnino Carmine Starnino is a Canadian poet, essayist, educator and editor. Biography He was born in 1970 in Montreal, Quebec, into an Italian heritage. His first poetry collection ''The New World'' (1997) was nominated for the 1997 A. M. Klein Priz ...

*''Cristallo'' (novel) by Mena Martini *''Leftovers'' (short fiction) by

Fabrizio Napoleone Fabrizio is an Italian first name, from the Latin word "Faber" meaning "smith" and may refer to: * Fabrizio Barbazza (born 1963), Italian Formula One driver * Fabrizio Barca (born 1954), Italian politician * Fabrizio Brienza (born 1969), Italian mo ...

*''Baseballissimo'' (creative non-fiction) by Dave Bidini 2008 *''You Speak to Me in Trees'' (poetry) by Elana Wolff *''Magnifico'' (novel) by

Victoria Miles Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

*''Making Olives'' (short fiction) by

Darlene Madott Darlene may refer to: *Darlene (given name), people with the given name Darlene *Darlene (artist) Darlene Jean Pekul (born 1954, Wisconsin), now just known as Darlene (she legally dropped her surname in 1984), is an American artist and calligra ...

*''The Clothesline'' (creative non-fiction) by

Donna Caruso Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People *Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), Ita ...

2010 *''This Nothing's Place'' (poetry) by

Pasquale Verdicchio Pasquale Verdicchio (born March 4, 1954) is an Italian Canadian poet, critic and translator teaching in the US at UCSD. Born in Naples, Italy, he moved to Vancouver BC in the late 60s. He received his BA from University of Victoria, MA from the Univ ...

*''Berlin'' (fiction) by

Michael Mirolla Michael Mirolla is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, poet and playwright who lives in Oakville, Ontario. Mirolla was awarded the Bressani Award for his novel ''Berlin'' in 2010 (Leapfrog Press). He has won the Bressani Award a total of thr ...

*''Made Up of Arias'' (short fiction) by

Michelle Alfano Michelle may refer to: People * Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottis ...

*''Finding Rosa'' (emigration from Italy) by

Caterina Edwards Caterina Edwards LoVerso (born 1948) is a Canadian writer and teacher. Edwards was born in Earls Barton, England. Her mother was born in Lussino, Istria, and her father is from a Welsh and English family. Edwards eventually moved to Calgary ...

2012 *''Dancing, with Mirrors'' (poetry) by

George Amabile George Amabile (born 29 May 1936) is a Canadian poet who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His poetry, fiction and non-fiction have been published in Canada, the USA, Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand in over a hundred anthologies, magaz ...

*''The Good Doctor'' (fiction) by

Vince Agro Vince Agro (October 20, 1936 – September 4, 2020) was born in the North End of Hamilton. He was acting mayor of Hamilton, in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1976 to 1977. He assumed the position after Victor Copps had a heart attack. He r ...

*''Small Change'' (short fiction) by

*''Whoever Gives Us Bread'' (creative non-fiction) by

Lynne Bowen Lynne Bowen (born August 22, 1940 in Indian Head, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian non-fiction writer, historian, professor, and journalist, best known for her popular historical books about Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Over the years, Bowen ...

2014 *''The House on 14th Avenue'' (poetry) by

*''Stations of the Heart'' (fiction) by

*''Sweets'' (short fiction) by Eufemia Fantetti *''The Figures of Beauty'' (Italian theme) by

David Macfarlane David Macfarlane (born 1952 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian journalist, playwright and novelist. His debut novel, 1999's '' Summer Gone'', was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and was a winner of the Books in Canada First Novel Award. His New ...

2016 *''Lessons in Relationships Dyads'' (short stories) by

Past winners are listed at the end of the document

References

{{Reflist Canadian literary awards