Maria Reva wins Amazon Canada First Novel Award for 'Endling'

Author Maria Reva is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Penguin Random House Canada (Mandatory Credit)

TORONTO — “Endling,” Maria Reva’s metafictional exploration of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

Reva, an opera librettist, received the $60,000 prize at a ceremony in Toronto on Thursday.

The book previously won the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

“Endling” follows three women in Ukraine’s bridal tourism industry whose ill-conceived kidnapping scheme is interrupted by Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The novel takes a sharp pivot halfway through as Reva writes herself into the book, forcing the reader to consider the sorts of stories people tell about Ukraine and the way they tell stories about themselves.

The other finalists for the prize, who receive $6,000 apiece, were Kyle Edwards for “Small Ceremonies”; Kate Cayley for “Property”; Jon Claytor for the graphic novel “Nowhere”; Antonio Michael Downing for “Black Cherokee”; and Ben Ladouceur for “I Remember Lights.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2026.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press