The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for and .
Vicky Metcalf, a Canadian librarian, established the award "in 1963 to stimulate the writing of literature for Canadian children." Before 2013, the prize was known as the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature. The award is sponsored by the Metcalf Foundation, whose objective "is to enhance the effectiveness of people and organizations working together to help Canadians imagine and build a just, healthy and creative society." In 2002, the award was taken over by the Writers' Trust of Canada from the Canadian Authors Association.
To be eligible for the award, recipients must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, have published a minimum of four English-language children's book, and have published at least one first-edition book in the previous three years. Winners are selected by a three-person jury and receive $25,000 CAD.
Winners
20th Century +Award winners, 1963–1999YearWinnerRef.19631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000
21st Century +Award winners, 2000–presentYearWinnerSelected worksRef.20012002200320042005200620072008200920102011 The Winter Pony Gemini Summer The Convicts The Smugglers The Wreckers2012 Money Boy Dead Man’s Gold and Other Stories Ghost Train Tales from Gold Mountain Teach Me to Fly, Skyfighter!2013 The Night Before Christmas Picture a Tree Perfect Snow The Party Sing a Song of Mother Goose2014 The Show to End All Shows Mr. Zinger’s Hat Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas Thing-Thing The Market Wedding2015 Kyle Goes Alone This is My Planet I Found a Dead Bird The Rumor The Wildlife 1232016 Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend Tilt Dear Sylvia After Sylvia The Secret Life of Owen Skye2017 Dear Canada: These Are My Words Dog Tracks Little Voice Silent Words Honour the Sun2018 The Journey of Little Charlie The Madman of Piney Woods Elijah of Buxton Bud, Not Buddy The Watsons Go to Birmingham2019 No Fixed Address Optimists Die First We Are All Made of Molecules Word Nerd2020 The Lion and the Bird The Bus Ride Up the Mountain Path Otto and Pio Little Cheetah's Shadow2021 Stanley's Party Toads on Toasy The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein Princesses Versus Dinosaurs2022Le Grand Antonio (2014) / The Great Antonio (2017)2023Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli Operatic It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the WayNicole Thompson, "Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel". Toronto Star, November 21, 2023. 2024"Sheung-King, Martha Baillie among Writers' Trust literary prize winners". CBC Books, November 19, 2017. 2025 Cassandra Drudi, "Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Maria Reva, Roza Nozari among Writers’ Trust award winners". Quill & Quire, November 13, 2025.
References
External links CAA VM award page Writers' Trust of Canada