Going with our short theme of literary awards, today we’re excited about the announcement of the Giller Prize Award winner. The ScotiaBank Giller Prize is Canada’s most prestigious literary award, started in 1994. It awards $50000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short stories published in English. (All the finalist on the shortlist receive $5000 and probably some much needed promotion, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.)
This year, the nominees that made it to the short list include a story of Soviet-Jewish refugees stranded in Rome, the journey of a misunderstood boy into adulthood, a Western as you’ve rarely seen it, a novel of a young German jazz musician, a journey on a ship, and observations on our modern world through remarkable short stories. Each book is as far from the other as you could imagine, and yet all show the incredible and diverse talent that makes up Canadian literature today.
So, who will win? Here are the list of nominees. Please pop to the Giller Prize website tonight around 10pm for the big announcement! (They’ll post it on Twitter!)
The Free World by David Bezmozgis
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Better Living through Plastic Explosives by ZsuZsi Gartner
The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje
Click on any of the above books or author’s names to pop to their websites. You should spend a few minutes looking through each…they are fascinating and give you a better insight into the authors and their books.
Have you read any of the books and if so, who do you think will win?
