2016 GG Books winners announced
Ottawa, October 25, 2016– The Canada Council for the Arts today announced the winners of the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Awards. The 14 winning titles, chosen from a shortlist of 68 finalists, represent the best Canadian books of the year. They offer readers of all ages the opportunity to enjoy new work by established authors and discover new favourites by first-time winners. 2016 marks the awards’ 80th anniversary.
2016 is an excellent vintage for the GG Awards – full-bodied, nuanced, and sure to satisfy the palates of a discerning public eager to discover new and meaningful worlds. Once again, we have the privilege of celebrating the power of literature to question who we are and what we aspire to be. Our thanks to the authors and to the publishers who have accompanied them in their creative process and brought their works to life.
Simon Brault, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts
Important dates
- Wednesday, November 30, 6:00 pm: His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will present the 2016 Governor General Literary Awards at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa.
- Thursday, December 1, 11:45 am – 1:00 pm: Readers are invited to meet the English-language GG Books winners at a public reading and book signing at the Canada Council, 150 Elgin, Ottawa (Event with French-language winners will be held on Wednesday, November 30, 11:45 am – 1:00 pm).
About the Awards
- One of Canada’s longest standing literary awards, founded in 1936, the Governor General’s Literary Awards are among Canada's most prestigious literary awards with a total value of $450,000. The Canada Council for the Arts has funded, administered and promoted the awards since 1959.
- GG Books winners are chosen by peer assessment committees per category, per language (7 in English and 7 in French), who consider finalists from eligible books published between September 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016 for English-language books and between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 for French-language books.
- Each winner receives $25,000. The publisher of each winning book receives $3000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists each receive $1000.
- Over their 80 years, the Governor General’s Literary Awards have celebrated more than 700 works by over 500 authors, poets, playwrights, translators and illustrators.
English-language winners and comments from the peer assessment committees:
Fiction
Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada / Penguin Random House Canada; distributed by the publisher
Jury Statement
Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing is an elegant, nuanced and perfectly realized novel that, fugue-like, presents the lives of individuals, collectives, and generations caught in the complexities of history.
Tracing the intertwined lives of two families, moving from Revolutionary China to Canada, this ambitious work explores the persistence of the past and the power of art, raising meaningful questions for our times.
Jury Members: Jaspreet Singh, Mary Swan, Sara Tilley
Poetry
Steven Heighton, The Waking Comes Late
Kingston, Ont.
Book Details
Published by House of Anansi Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press
Jury Statement
Steven Heighton’s The Waking Comes Late is a journey deepening as we read. He locates the complexities of the personal in a wide range of social issues, while playing masterfully with language, form and tone.
His stunning political poems never descend to pedantry or the prosaic. A mature work: smart, moving, inventive, original.
Jury Members: Shane Book, Richard Lemm, Sandy Shreve
Drama
Colleen Murphy, Pig Girl
Toronto
Book Details
Published by Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press
Jury Statement
Colleen Murphy weaves a masterfully structured examination of humanity within our most inhumane moments. Pig Girl forces us to relentlessly bear witness to a single night of horror that echoes the silenced ongoing violence against women.
Difficult and harrowing, it asks us to acknowledge our collective responsibility. Arresting. Undeniable. Unforgettable.
Jury Members: Robert Chafe, Kevin Kerr, Beatriz Pizano
Non-fiction
Bill Waiser, A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905
Saskatoon, Sask.
Book Details
Published by Fifth House Publishers; distributed by Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Jury Statement
From its first page, Bill Waiser’s A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905 surprises the reader with its reconsideration of Canada.
In a sweeping blend of narrative, historical detail, and compelling images, Waiser refocuses the country’s story by putting Indigenous peoples and environmental concerns in the foreground.
Jury Members: Kevin Chong, Mary Soderstrom, Christl Verduyn
Young People's Literature (Text)
Martine Leavitt, Calvin
High River, Alta.
Book Details
Published by Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press
Jury Statement
In Martine Leavitt’s Calvin, a boy newly diagnosed with schizophrenia makes a pilgrimage across a frozen Lake Erie. Told in spare, beautiful prose, this transcendent exploration of reality and truth is funny, frightening and affirming. Calvin is an astonishing achievement.
Jury Members: Don Aker, Polly Horvath, Y.S. Lee
Young People's Literature (Illustrated Books)
Jon-Erik Lappano and Kellen Hatanaka, Tokyo Digs a Garden
Guelph, Ont./ Stratford, Ont.
Book Details
Published by Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press
Jury Statement
Tokyo Digs a Garden marries text and illustration in a richly ornamented dream landscape that simultaneously suggests a digital and an organic world. Kellen Hatanaka’s illustrations are inventive and groundbreaking and the hypnotic text by Jon-Erik Lappano conveys its message in a darkly humourous and elegant manner. A book for any age.
Jury Members: Gary Clement, Chieri Uegaki, Ludmila Zeman
Translation (French to English)
Lazer Lederhendler, The Party Wall
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Biblioasis; distributed by Ampersand/UTP
Translation of Le mur mitoyen by Catherine Leroux, Éditions Alto
Jury Statement
In The Party Wall, his masterly translation of Catherine Leroux’s Le mur mitoyen, Lazer Lederhendler deftly captures the spirit, meaning, and emotional punch of the French text.
Writing with grace and imagination, he creates a compelling work of art while serving and respecting the original.
Jury Members: Deborah Blythe, David Edney, Don Wilson
French-language winners and comments from the peer assessment committees
Fiction
Dominique Fortier, Au péril de la mer
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Éditions Alto; distributed by Diffusion Dimedia
Jury Statement
Au péril de la mer pays tribute to Mont Saint-Michel, a place of refuge for books and men, and the backdrop for this story about a painter who falls in love with his model.
Dominique Fortier's skillfully crafted work at the crossroads of knowledge reflects on the art of different eras, from the 15th century to the present.
Jury Members: Edem Awumey, André Lamontagne, Francine Noël
Poetry
Normand de Bellefeuille, Le poème est une maison de bord de mer
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Les Éditions du Noroît; distributed by Diffusion Dimedia
Jury Statement
Le poème est une maison de bord de mer, Normand de Bellefeuille's magnificent collection of poetry, mixes ideas and emotions from which ‘dark reality’ paradoxically gives rise to a work with a positive outlook.
More than ever, the language is rooted in an experience that draws us into the deeper reaches of all that is left unsaid.
Jury Members: Bathélemy Bolivar, François Charron, Rachel Leclerc
Drama
Wajdi Mouawad, Inflammation du verbe vivre
France
Book Details
Published by Leméac Éditeur / Actes Sud; distributed by Socadis
Jury Statement
In Inflammation du verbe vivre, Wajdi Mouawad and his alter ego Wahid lead us into his descent into hell. He drifts along, living his own legend like a contemporary Ulysses searching for the symbol that will save him.
The author’s ferocious but luminous language is both wonderful and disturbing in this moving and incisive work.
Jury Members: Hanna Abd El Nour, David Baudemont, Carole Fréchette
Non-fiction
Roland Viau, Amerindia : essais d'ethnohistoire autochtone
Long Sault, Ont.
Book Details
Published by Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal; distributed by Socadis
Jury Statement
In Amerindia : essais d’ethnohistoire autochtone, Roland Viau describes a non-linear and non hierarchical vision of relations between colonizers and Indigenous peoples against the backdrop of the evolution of civilizations.
In these essays, the author offers an innovative re-reading of the historical record by giving voice to the Other.
Jury Members: Samuel Archibald, Ying Chen, Jacques Julien
Young People's Literature (Text)
François Gilbert, Hare Krishna
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Leméac Éditeur; distributed by Socadis
Jury Statement
François Gilbert's realistic story makes us feel the anguish of Mikael, a rebellious youth drawn to Krishna. The characters in Hare Krishna are so authentic that their conflicting values make us think deeply about our life choices.
Jury Members: Andrée-Anne Gratton, Bernadette Renaud, Louise Royer
Young People's Literature (Illustrated Books)
Stéphanie Lapointe and Rogé, Grand-père et la Lune
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Les Éditions XYZ; distributed by Distribution HMH
Jury Statement
Grand-père et la Lune by Stéphanie Lapointe and illustrator Rogé transports us to a gentle and compassionate world of poetic words and images. An intimate story that speaks to family and the passing down of memories.
Jury Members: Laïla Héloua, Sylvie Nicolas, Réjean Roy
Translation (English to French)
Catherine Ego, La destruction des Indiens des Plaines : maladies, famines organisées, disparition du mode de vie autochtone
Montreal
Book Details
Published by Presses de l'Université Laval; distributed by Prologue; translation of Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life by James Daschuk, University of Regina Press
Jury Statement
Catherine Ego's brilliant, flexible and crystal clear translation of James Daschuk's Clearing the Plains, has expertly captured its essence. La destruction des Indiens des Plainesedifyingly renders every detail of the original.
Jury Members: Patricia Godbout, Pierrot Lambert, Daniel Lauzon
To book interviews with the winners:
Geneviève Blouin, Genesis PR
514-887-8187
gen@gensispr.com
Canada Council media contact:
Meredith Sharpe
1-800-263-5588, ext. 4166
343-998-2627 (cell)
Meredith.sharpe@canadacouncil.ca
Rideau Hall media contact for award ceremony:
Julie Rocheleau
613-998-7280
julie.rocheleau@gg.ca