Valérie Bah wins Amazon Canada First Novel Award for ‘Subterrane’

TORONTO — Valérie Bah’s speculative comedy “Subterrane” has won the $60,000 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

The Quebec author and filmmaker accepted the prize at a ceremony in Toronto on Thursday night.

The novel follows a filmmaker documenting the lives of queer and Black characters who are pushed underground by urban prosperity in the fictional city of New Stockholm.

The documentarian focuses on the death of an activist protesting a construction project.

In addition to writing and filmmaking, Bah is a massage therapist.

Other finalists include Benjamin Hertwig for “Juiceboxers,” about four young soldiers serving in Afghanistan, and Vancouver-based Myriam Lacroix for the genre-bending “How It Works Out,” in which a lesbian couple’s relationship is reimagined through multiple scenarios.

Also in the running were Andrew Boden of Burnaby, B.C., for “When We Were Ashes,” about disabled children in Nazi Germany; Halifax writer David Huebert for “Oil People,” about two families locked in a bitter rivalry that lasts generations; and Calgary’s Natalie Sue for the tender comedy “I Hope This Finds You Well,” about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens.

Each shortlisted novelist receives $6,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.