Doug Wright Awards

Doug Wright Award
Doug Wright Award trophy, designed by Seth, using an image from Doug Wright's Family
Awarded for	Achievement in English-language Canadian comics
Country	Canada
Reward(s)	Wood-and-glass trophy
Official website	http://www.dougwrightawards.com

The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (founded December 2004) are literary awards handed out annually during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 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 Wrights are handed out in three categories, "Best Book", "The Spotlight Award" (affectionately known as "The Nipper"), and, since 2008, the "Pigskin Peters Award" for non-narrative or experimental works.

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.

The Best Book and The Spotlight awards are a 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 was 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.