By Karen Whaley

The finalists for the 2008 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian cartooning have been announced!
There were no major upsets: Montreal-based publishing house Drawn and Quarterly practically swept the nominations, but there are also a considerable number of self-published works on the shortlist. One exciting twist this year was the addition of a new category, The Pigskin Peters Award for works that are “more experimental in nature or lack a traditional narrative structure.” The winners will be announced at a ceremony on August 14—we’ll keep you posted on the details.
And the nominees are…
Best Book
365 Days: A Diary by Julie Doucet (Drawn and Quarterly)
Spent by Joe Matt (Drawn and Quarterly)
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming (Riverhead Books)
Southern Cross by Laurence Hyde (Drawn and Quarterly)
Best Emerging Talent
Essex County, Vol. 1 (Tales From The Farm) & Vol. 2 (Ghost Stories) by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
Pope Hats by Ethan Rilly (self-published)
Kieffer #1 by Jason Kieffer (self-published)
The Experiment by Nick Maandag (self-published)
The Pigskin Peters Award
Milk Teeth by Julie Morstad (Drawn and Quarterly)
Little Lessons in Safety by Emily Holton (Conundrum Press)
Excelsior 1968 by John Martz (self-published)
Fire Away by Chris von Szombathy (Drawn and Quarterly)
Page from Excelsior 1968 courtesy of John Martz.