The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (established in December 2004), handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, are literary awards given to Canadian cartoonists. Honouring excellence in comics (including webcomics) and graphic novels published in English (including translated works), the awards are named in honour of Canadian cartoonist Doug Wright. Winners are selected by a jury of Canadians who have made significant contributions to national culture, based on shortlisted selections provided by a nominating committee of five experts in the comics field.
The Wright Awards are handed out in four categories: The Doug Wright Award for Best Book The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for Emerging Talent (formerly known as "The Spotlight Award") The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for Best Small- or Micro-press Book (first awarded in 2008; it was formerly awarded for "experimental, non-traditional or avant-garde comics," though these books are still considered "especially welcome in this category"Submitting to the 2025 Doug Wright Awards); The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for Best Kids’ Book (first awarded in 2020; for young readers ages 0-12)
In addition to the awards, since 2005 the organizers annually induct at least one cartoonist into the Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartoonist Hall Fame.
The Wright Awards are modeled after traditional book prizes, with the intention of drawing attention to the comics medium from a broad range of demographics inside and outside of its traditional fanbase. The Wrights have garnered acclaim as well as earning the support of a diverse range of participating artists and jurors including Scott Thompson, Don McKellar, Bruce McDonald, Jerry Ciccoritti, Bob Rae, Andrew Coyne, Sara Quin, Greg Morrison, Chester Brown, Lorenz Peter, and Nora Young.
Awards
The Best Book and The Nipper (Spotlight) awards are large wood-and-glass trophies which are engraved with images from Wright's comic strip (the one difference being the images that are etched on the glass). The award were designed by the cartoonist Seth, who admitted to some embarrassment at being the inaugural winner of the trophy he designed. The Pigskin Peters Award, named in honour of a character from Jimmy Frise's Birdseye Center, is a custom, tailored derby hat with its own unique plaque that doubles as a hat post. It was also designed by Seth.
Each recipient of a Doug Wright Award also receives a custom-bound copy of their winning work.
Nominees & Winners
2024 Source:
The Doug Wright Award for best book
WINNER - A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll (First Second) Val-d’Or Neon by Olivier Ballou (Self-published) Harvey Knight's Odyssey by Nick Maandag (Drawn & Quarterly) Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman by Éloïse Marseille (Pow Pow Press) Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly) JAJ by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
Spotlight Award (aka The Nipper)
WINNER - Vincy Lim for When I was a kid I was taught how to die. Now that I'm an adult I'm learning how to live. (I love you.) and When She Set Fire to My Friends’ Houses (Self-published) James Collier for The Lonesome Shepherd (Wig Shop) Syd Madia for Syd Madia's Dracula (Self-published) Christopher Twin for Bad Medicine (Emanata/Conundrum) Kyle Vingoe-Cram for Kettle Harbour (Conundrum Press)
The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book
WINNER - Old Caves by Tyler Landry (Uncivilized) Endsickness No. 2 by Sofia Alarcon (Self-published) The Lonesome Shepherd by James Collier (Wig Shop) Power 9: Part One by John Little and David Little (Self-published) Index by Sven, Rachel Evangeline Chiong, and Joyce Kim (Self-published)
The Egghead Award
WINNER - Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier (Owlkids Books) ThunderBoom by Jack Briglio and Claudia Dávila (Kids Can Press) Pluto Rocket: New in Town by Paul Gilligan (Tundra Books) Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks (First Second) Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin (Emanata/Conundrum)
2023 Source:
The Doug Wright Award for best book
WINNER - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly) Time Zone J by Julie Doucet (Drawn & Quarterly) Shelterbelts by Jonathan Dyck (Conundrum Press) The Flamingo by Guojing (Random House Studio) Kwändürby Cole Pauls (Conundrum Press) You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth (Triangle Square)
Spotlight Award (aka The Nipper)
WINNER - Jonathan Dyck for Shelterbelts (Conundrum Press) Emily Carrington for Our Little Secret (Drawn & Quarterly) Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet for We Were Younger Once (Conundrum Press) Lynette Richards for Call Me Bill (Conundrum Press/Emanata Imprint) Adam de Souza for Blind Alley No. 1, ISH (Self-Published, Silver Sprocket)
Pigskin Peters Award
WINNER - Where Have You Been? by Ivana Filipovich (trans: Ivana Filipovich/Andrea Hankinson) (Self-Published) The Life I Want by Patrick Allaby (Self-Published) Assorted Baggage by Matthew Daley (Black Eye Books) Butterfly House by Troy Little and Brenda Hickey (Pegamoose Press) Thousand Oaks: Machine Mail (Part 3) by Blaise Moritz (Urban Farm Print and Sound)
The Egghead Award
WINNER - You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth (Triangle Square)
Scout is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong (Random House Graphic) Paws: Mindy Makes Some Space by Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn (Razorbill) Super Family! (Simon and Chester Book 3) by Cale Atkinson (Tundra Books) The Flamingo by Guojing (Random House Studio)
2022
Source:
The Doug Wright Award for best book
WINNER - The Shiatsung Project by Brigitte Archambault (Conundrum Press) Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly) The Rock From the Sky by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press) Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (Fantagraphics) Fictional Father by Joe Ollmann (Drawn & Quarterly)
Spotlight Award (aka The Nipper)
WINNER - Sami Alwani for The Pleasure of the Text. (Conundrum Press) Sofia Alarcon for Endsickness No. 1 (Self-published) Brigitte Archambault for The Shiatsung Project (Conundrum Press) Alexander Laird for Sleemor Gank: Burg Land No. 1 (Self-published) Kyle Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen for Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’ and Pass Me By: Electric Vice (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
Pigskin Peters Award
WINNER - Dwellings No. 2 by Jay Stephens (Black Eye Books) Endsickness No. 1 by Sofia Alarcon (Self-published) Fruit/Soil by Kim Edgar (Moniker Press) The Northern Gaze by Akeeshoo Chislett, Chris Caldwell, Cole Pauls, Andrew Sharp, Juliann Fraser, Esther Bordet, Alison McCreesh, Keith Verbonac, Princess J; edited by Kim Edgar (Hecate Press) Sleemor Gank: Burg Land No. 1 by Alexander Laird (Self-published)
The Egghead Award
WINNER - Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz (Dial Books for Young Readers) Simon and Chester: Super Sleepover! by Cale Atkinson (Tundra Books) Otter Lagoon by Mike Deas and Nancy (Deas Orca Book Publishers) Living with Viola by Rosena Fung (Annick Press) Over the Shop by JonArno Lawson and Qin Leng (Candlewick Press) Etty Darwin and the Four Pebble Problem by Lauren Soloy (Tundra Books)
2021 The Doug Wright Award for best book
WINNER - Lonely Boys by S. Bédard (Pow Pow Press) Familiar Face by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly) Constantly by GG (Koyama Press) Paul at Home by Michel Rabagliati (Drawn & Quarterly) Wendy, Master of Art by Walter Scott (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent
WINNER - Veronica Post for Langosh & Peppi: Fugitive Days (Conundrum Press) Adam de Souza for A Gleaming No. 2 (Self-published)
Kimberly Edgar for The Space In Between (Self-published) Courtney Loberg for We Don't Go Through the Angelgrass (Self-published) Shannon M. Reeves for Restless Bones (Gytha Press)
The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book
WINNER - The Noiseless Din by Scott Carruthers (Popnoir Editions) The Desecration by Scott Carruthers and Sally McKay (Self-published) A Gleaming No. 2 by Adam de Souza (Self-published) The Space In Between by Kimberly Edgar (Self-published) Awkward Pause by Ryan Harby (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids’ book
WINNER - A Slug Story by Mandi Kujawa, Hana Kujawa, Claude St. Aubin, and Lovern Kindzierski Renegade Arts Entertainment The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler (Tundra Books)
Okay, Universe: Chronicles of a Woman in Politics by Valérie Plante and Delphie Côté-Lacroix (Drawn & Quarterly)
Grandmother School by Rina Singh and Ellen (Rooney Orca Book Publishers) Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Thomas and Maya McKibbin (Annick Press)
2020 The Doug Wright Award for best book
WINNER - Bezimena by Nina Bunjevac (Fantagraphics Books) This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Sonny Assu, Brandon Mitchell, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, David A. Robertson, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Jen Storm, Richard Van Camp, Katherena Vermette, Chelsea Vowel, Tara Audibert, Kyle Charles, GMB Chomichuk, Natasha Donovan, Scott A. Ford, Scott B. Henderson, Ryan Howe, Andrew Lodwick, Jen Storm, Donovan Yaciuk, Alicia Elliott (HighWater Press)
The Cursed Hermit by Kris Bertin, Alexander Forbes (Conundrum Press) Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt (Freehand Books) Death Threat by Vivek Shraya, Ness Lee (Arsenal Pulp Press) Bradley of Him by Connor Willumsen (Koyama Press)
The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent
WINNER - Sylvia Nickerson for Creation (Drawn & Quarterly) D. Boyd for Chicken Rising (Conundrum Press)
Jason Bradshaw for Things Go Wrong (Paper Rocket) Ben O’Neil for Apologetica (Popnoir Editions) Cole Pauls for Dakwäkãda Warriors (Conundrum Press)
The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book
WINNER - Gleem by Freddy Carrasco (Peow Studios) Boumeries, Vol. 9 by Boum (Self-published) Baby in the Boneyard by Jesse Jacobs (Hollow Press) Curb Angels by Lisa Mendis, Christopher Ducharme, Lucas C. Pauls (At Bay Press) Dejects by Jay Stephens (Black Eye Books)
The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids’ book
WINNER - The Worst Book Ever by Elise Gravel (Drawn & Quarterly) Brick Breaks Free by David Craig (Self-published) Lunch Quest by Chris Kuzma (Koyama Press) Dakwäkãda Warriors by Cole Pauls (Conundrum Press) Alma and the Beast by Esme Shapiro (Tundra Books)
2019 Source
Doug Wright Best Book Award
WINNER - Young Frances by Hartley Lin (Adhouse Books) A Western World by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press) Evie and the Truth About Witches by John Martz (Koyama Press) Somnambulance by Fiona Smyth (Koyama Press)
Doug Wright Spotlight Award (a.k.a. The Nipper)
WINNER - Ariane Dénommé for 100 Days in Uranium City (Conundrum Press) Aminder Dhaliwal for Woman World (Drawn & Quarterly)
Al Gofa for Dark Angels of Darkness (Peow Studio) Victor Martins for Stay and You Don't Have To be Afraid of Me Sylvia Nickerson for All We Have Left Is This Eric Kostiuk Williams for Our Wretched Town Hall (Retrofit Comics)
Pigskin Peters Award
WINNER - Retomber by Xiaoxiao Li Eggshell 2 (ddogg) by William Dereume Winter's Cosmos (Koyama Press) by Michael Comeau Promising Jupiter by Ron Hotz 310, 310 (Peow Studio) by Mushbuh
2018
Best Book
WINNER - Crawl Space by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press) Hostage by Guy Delisle (Drawn & Quarterly) I'm Not Here by GG (Koyama Press) The Abominable Mr. Seabrook by Joe Ollmann (Drawn & Quarterly) Anti-Gone by Connor Willumsen (Koyama Press)
Spotlight Award (aka The Nipper)
WINNER - Jenn Woodall for Magical Beatdown Vol. 2 and Marie and Worrywart Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes for The Case of the Missing Men (Conundrum Press)