Dundurn Press is thrilled to announce that A Song for Wildcats by Caitlin Galway has been shortlisted for the 2025 Danuta Gleed Literary Award! Congratulations, Caitlin!
The jury citation for A Song for Wildcats reads: “The five long-form stories in A Song for Wildcats take us through time and across continents, from a dingy motel in Las Vegas, to Northern Ireland, to the Australian wilderness, to a small town on the Hudson River, to the windswept coast of Corsica. Galway evokes these historical settings with careful attention to detail that transports readers viscerally into each world unfolding on the page. Galway’s characters grapple with ghosts, grief, and the pitfalls of love and loyalty, with particularly strong explorations of queer desire in “The Lyrebird’s Bell” and the titular “A Song for Wildcats.” At once ambitious and intimate, lyrical and precise, each story offers a profound journey of the heart.”
The Award recognizes the best first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2025 in the English language. The winner receives a prize of $10,000 and the finalists each receive $1,000. The Award is made possible through a generous donation from John Gleed, in memory of his late wife, and is administered by The Writers’ Union of Canada. Learn more about the 2025 Danuta Gleed Literary Award.
The winner will be announced in June.