The 2024 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature has been awarded to Kate Beaton for her graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands which was published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2022.

The Jan Michalski Prize for Literature “rewards works of all literary genres, fiction or non-fiction, irrespective of the language in which it is written” and has been awarded annually since 2010.

A rotating jury submits works to be considered for the prize, it’s not submitted by authors or publishers.

In the announcement, the Jury described Ducks as:

a piercing and daring graphic memoir that sheds light on the hidden side of working conditions in the oil industry through the eyes of a young woman and recent graduate who is thrown into a toxic world because of economic hardship. Featuring clean lines and dialogue imbued with great narrative force, this visual autobiography is able to embrace the most sensitive and painful questions of our time – hypercapitalism, the environment, impoverishment, sexism and sexual harassment – without such a traumatic experience stifling her deep empathy for others in similar circumstances. A profoundly moving masterpiece thanks to the courage it embodies.

The graphic novel is a memoir meets reporting chronicling Beaton’s experience in the oil sands work camps in Western Canada when she was 21 years old.

As the winner of the 2024 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, Kate Beaton will receive CHF 50,000 as well as a work of art by the draftsman Micaël.

You can read the full announcement here.