The comic Cannon, by Lee Lai, won the award for best book at the 2026 Doug Wright Awards, held in Toronto. The work tells the story of a cook who, after a collapse, destroys her work and seeks refuge with a friend. A raw tale about fragility and personal restart that captivated the Canadian jury.
Visual narrative as a breaking point 🎨
Lai uses loose strokes and open panels to reflect the protagonist's inner turmoil. The sequence of the kitchen destruction is resolved with an almost cinematic editing rhythm, where black and white accentuates the tension. The author avoids explanatory dialogues and lets the page composition guide the reading, showing how the workspace becomes an emotional prison that the cook must demolish to move forward.
Kitchen, collapse, and a consolation prize 🍳
The moral seems clear: if your boss exploits you, trashing the kitchen is a valid option. Of course, make sure a friend picks you up off the floor afterward, because cleaning up broken plates alone is no fun. At least Lee Lai can now say her work trauma earned her an award in Toronto. We'll keep dreaming of quitting, but with more style and less shattered dishware.