Benjamin Hertwig

Benjamin Hertwig is a Canadian poet, whose debut poetry collection Slow War was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry at the 2017 Governor General's Awards.^[1] He is based in Edmonton, Alberta and is co-owner of the used bookstore Paper Birch Books.^[2]

A former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan,^[3] he has also published short fiction and non-fiction work in Maisonneuve, Canadian Literature, The Walrus, Ricepaper, Geez, Prairie Fire, Pleiades and The New York Times. He won a National Magazine Award in the Personal Journalism category in 2017 for "The Burn".^[4]

In 2024, Hertwig released his first novel, Juiceboxers, which follows four young men sent to war in Afghanistan.^[2] The novel was a finalist for the 2025 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.^[5]