The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian prize given since 1998. It honors the best first book of short stories written by a Canadian author in English. The award was started by John Gleed to remember his wife, Danuta Gleed, a Canadian writer who loved short stories. The Writers' Union of Canada gives the award. Money from the sales of her book One for the Chosen, published after her death in 1997, helps fund the prize.

At first, the prize was $5,000. In 2004, it became $10,000. Each runner-up receives $500. Nominations must be sent by the end of January. A group of people called a jury chooses the shortlist each year. The jury changes yearly and includes Canadian writers, critics, and publishers, such as Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Robin McGrath, and Hal Niedzviecki in 2012 or Douglas Glover, J. Jill Robinson, and Claire Holden Rothman in 2011.

The first winning book was The Progress of an Object in Motion by Curtis Gillespie.

In 2010, Joey Comeau’s book Overqualified was removed because the author had already published a debut work. Only two books were on the shortlist that year (the fewest in the award’s history). The judges called the winning book Wax Boats by Sarah Roberts “truly remarkable,” praising her ability to write in many different styles and comparing her work to Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town for the modern age.