One more short list - the GGs

Yesterday, the finalists for the Governor General's Literary Awards were announced. There are seven categories in both languages, so the entire list is quite long. I am only going to focus on the fiction short list, which is, to me, the most interesting. The GG Award is the third in the Canadian trifecta of literary awards, along with the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Prize for Fiction. Last year, both Esi Edugyan and Patrick deWitt were nominated for all three, with Edugyan winning the $50,000 Giller and deWitt winning the Writers' Trust and GG, at $25,000 each.

This year, there will be no possibility of a triple crown winner. No book has been nominated for all three awards, though several are in line to win two of the three. Here is the GG Fiction list:

Siege 13 by Tamas Dobozy

Dr. Brinkley's Tower by Robert Hough

The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

The Juliet Stories by Carrie Snyder

The Purchase by Linda Spalding

The biggest name on this list is Vincent Lam, who has already won the Giller for his 2006 collection of short stories, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures. However, Dobozy and Spalding are also nominated for the Writers' Trust Prize, making them the front-runners, in my mind. Then again, none of these five titles are nominated for the Giller Prize, which indicates an incredible dearth of Canadian fiction in 2012.

Also intriguing is the absence of several big names - Linden MacIntyre, Alice Munro, M.G. Vassanji and Annabel Lyon, all previous winners of major awards, have been omitted.

Another notable finalist is Sheila Fischman for translating Kim Thuy's Ru from French to English. Ru won the GG Award for French fiction in 2010, and the English version is nominated for this year's Giller Prize.

The Governor General's Literary Awards will be announced on November 13th.

2012 Scotiabank Giller Shortlist

On October 1st, the shortlist for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize was announced. The nominated books are:

419 by Will Ferguson

Inside by Alix Ohlin

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler

Ru by Kim Thuy

Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky

After the curious longlist announced in September, the shortlist seems to satisfy book critics. Only two of the books have been nominated for other big prizes in Canada: Inside by Alix Ohlin was shortlisted for the Rogers Writer’s Trust Prize for Fiction. Earlier this month, Ohlin was subject to a particularly dismissive review at the New York Times, but her nominations for two of Canada's three major literary awards proves that Canadian critics think otherwise. Julie Wilson at 49th Shelf interviews Ohlin about Inside and the infamous New York Times review. As well, Kim Thuy’s Ru has been nominated for the Governor’s General award for Translation (by Sheila Fischman). Ru won the Governor General's Award for Fiction in French in 2010. Will Ferguson is an interesting choice here, since he is predominantly a humour writer. However, Anna Porter, one of the jurists, explains that “[i]t is tempting to put 419 in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and genius.” The other two titles are relative newcomers to the awards circuit; Whirl Away is a short story collection and The Imposter Bride is a historical novel set in post-war Montreal.

Ferguson has already been deemed the “front-runner” for the prize, according to the Globe & Mail. However, my pick for the prize is the delightful Kim Thuy, whose book is a entrancing collection of vignettes documenting an escape from Vietnam in the 70s. I also have a personal reason for championing this book, as I got a chance to meet her earlier this year. She appeared at a bookstore event and captivated the audience as she spoke of her experience as a refugee in Burma, her first years in Montreal, her search for a profession, and her writing experience. It was great!

The winner will be announced on October 30th.

Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist announced

Today the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist was announced, separating 13 titles from the hundreds published in Canada since October 1st, 2011. The Giller jury this year consists of Gary Shteyngart, Roddy Doyle and Anna Porter, and perhaps the quirky jurors reflect on the quirky list. Several previous winners, including Vincent Lam and Linden MacIntyre, were not considered. The list is left to relative newcomers:

Marjorie Celona for her novel Y, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada
Lauren B. Davis for her novel Our Daily Bread, published by HarperCollins Canada
Cary Fagan for his short story collection My Life Among the Apes, published by Cormorant Books
Will Ferguson for his novel 419, published by Viking Canada
Robert Hough for his novel Dr. Brinkley’s Tower, published by House of Anansi Press
Billie Livingston for her novel One Good Hustle, published by Random House Canada
Annabel Lyon for her novel The Sweet Girl, published by Random House Canada
Alix Ohlin for her novel Inside, published by House of Anansi Press
Katrina Onstad for her novel Everybody Has Everything, published by McClelland & Stewart
CS Richardson for his novel The Emperor of Paris, published by Doubleday Canada
Nancy Richler for her novel The Imposter Bride, published by HarperCollins Canada
Kim Thúy for her novel Ru, translated by Sheila Fischman, published by Random House Canada
Russell Wangersky for his short story collection Whirl Away, published by Thomas Allen Publishers

Of the nominees, only Annabel Lyon has been nominated before, for The Golden Mean, the book to which her 2012 offering is a sequel. Will Ferguson may be familiar as a Stephen Leacock Medal-winning humourist; 419 is decidedly not humour. Kim Thuy's novel Ru was orginally written in French and won the 2010 Governor General's Award for Fiction in French. 

It is a wide open award this year! Such is the excitement of awards season. 

For more info on the prize and the nominees, read this article by Quill & Quire, or check out the Scotiabank Giller Prize home site.