The Canada Council for the Arts Reveals the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalists

Ottawa, Ontario, October 8, 2024 ― The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce the 2024 finalists in the Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks). These prestigious awards celebrate works published in Canada, in both official languages, across seven categories, and include books for readers of all ages.

Following a rigorous process, the peer assessment committees convened by the Canada Council have selected 70 books published in Canada over the last year as the 2024 finalists.

Mark your calendars

The 14 winners will be announced on ggbooks.ca on November 13, 2024.

About the GGBooks

•  Founded in 1936, the Governor General’s Literary Awards are some of the oldest and most prestigious literary prizes in Canada, with a total annual prize value of $450,000.
• The Canada Council for the Arts has funded, administered and promoted these awards since 1959.
• Finalists are selected by category-specific, language-based peer assessment committees (seven in English and seven in French). This year, the committees considered eligible books published between August 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.
• The writers, translators and illustrators whose books are selected as the winner in a given category receive a $25,000 prize. Publishers receive $3,000 to promote the winning book; finalists receive $1,000 each.

English-language finalists for 2024 (seven categories)

Fiction

• Code Noir – Canisia Lubrin (Whitby, Ontario), Knopf Canada (Penguin Random House)
• Empty Spaces – Jordan Abel (Edmonton, Alberta), McClelland & Stewart (Penguin Random House Canada)
• The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: Vol. 1: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island – Kent Monkman, Gisèle Gordon (Toronto, Ontario (both)), McClelland & Stewart (Penguin Random House Canada)
• Her Body Among Animals – Paola Ferrante (Toronto, Ontario), Book*hug Press
• Naniki – Oonya Kempadoo (Montréal, Quebec), Dundurn Press

Poetry

• The Work – Bren Simmers (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), Gaspereau Press
• Precendented Parroting – Barbara Tran (Toronto, Ontario), Palimpsest Press
• The All + Flesh – Brandi Bird (Burnaby, British Columbia), House of Anansi Press
• Sonnets from a Cell – Bradley Peters (Chilliwack, British Columbia), Brick Books
• Scientific Marvel – Chimwemwe Undi (Winnipeg, Manitoba), House of Anansi Press

Drama

• I Forgive You – Scott Jones, Robert Chafe (Scotsburn, Nova-Scotia / St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador), Playwrights Canada Press
• New – Pamela Mala Sinha (Toronto, Ontario), Playwrights Canada Press
• The Green Line – Makram Ayache (Toronto, Ontario), Playwrights Canada Press
• Shorelines – Mishka Lavigne (Gatineau, Quebec), Playwrights Canada Press
• There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow – Caleigh Crow (Calgary, Alberta), Playwrights Canada Press

Non-fiction

• Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir – Danny Ramadan (Vancouver, British Columbia), Viking Canada (Penguin Random House)
• Becoming a Matriarch – Helen Knott (Fort St. John, British Columbia), Knopf Canada (Penguin Random House)
• The Walls Have Eyes – Petra Molnar (New York City, United States), The New Press
• The Age of Insecurity – Astra Taylor (Saugerties, United States), House of Anansi Press
• Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre – Niigaan Sinclair (Winnipeg, Manitoba), McClelland & Stewart (Penguin Random House Canada)

Young People’s Literature – Text

• Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams – Shari Green (Campbell River, British Columbia), Andrews McMeel Publishing
• A Crane Among Wolves – June Hur (Scarborough, Ontario), Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan Publishers)
• Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix – Cherie Dimaline (Midland, Ontario), Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan Publishers)
• Crash Landing – Li Charmaine Anne (New Westminster, British Columbia), Annick Press
• Mortified – Kristy Jackson (Corman Park, Saskatchewan), Harper Collins Canada

Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

• I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf – Danielle Daniel, Matt James (Little Current, Ontario / Toronto, Ontario), Tundra Books (Penguin Random House Canada)
• The Gulf – Adam de Souza (Vancouver, British Columbia), Tundra Books (Penguin Random House Canada)
• Do You Remember? – Sydney Smith (Halifax, Nova Scotia), Groundwood Books
• Skating Wild on an Inland Sea – Jean E. Pendziwol, Todd Stewart (Thunder Bay, Ontario / Montréal, Quebec), Groundwood Books
• One Giant Leap – Thao Lam (Toronto, Ontario), Owlkids Books

Translation (from French to English)

• So Long Sad Love – Aleshia Jensen (Montréal, Quebec), Drawn and Quarterly; translation of Adieu triste amour, by Mirion Malle
• The Hollow Beast – Lazer Lederhendler (Montréal, Quebec), Biblioasis; translation of La bête creuse, by Christophe Bernard
• Sadie X – Aimee Wall (Montréal, Quebec), Book*hug Press; translation of Sadie X, by Clara Dupuis-Morency
• Morel – Melissa Bull (Montréal, Quebec), Baraka Books; translation of Morel, by Maxime Raymond Bock
• Nights Too Short to Dance – Katia Grubisic (Montréal, Quebec), Second Story Press; translation of Un cœur habité de mille voix, by Marie-Claire Blais

French-language finalists for 2024 (seven categories)

Fiction

• Lait cru – Steve Poutré (Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, Quebec), Éditions Alto
• De grandes personnes – Mathieu Rolland (Montréal, Quebec), Les Éditions du Boréal
• La version qui n’intéresse personne – Emmanuelle Pierrot (Montréal, Quebec), Le Quartanier
• Le compte est bon – Louis-Daniel Godin (Montréal, Quebec), La Peuplade
• Muette – Pascale Beauregard (Montréal, Quebec), Les Éditions du Boréal

Poetry

• Soleil sans heures – Olyvier Leroux-Picard (Cookshire-Eaton, Quebec), Poètes de brousse
• poème dégénéré – névé dumas (La Pêche, Quebec), L’Oie de Cravan
• Les couteaux dans ma gorge ne sont pas des fruits de mer – Annie Landreville (Rimouski, Quebec), Poètes de brousse
• L’air fou – Jonas Fortier (Montréal, Quebec), L’Oie de Cravan
• Lettres au ciel blanc – Emmanuel Simard (Lac-Mégantic, Quebec), Poètes de brousse

Drama

• Ciseaux – Geneviève Labelle, Mélodie Noël Rousseau (Montréal, Quebec (both)), Éditions du remue-ménage
• La dernière cassette: Un portrait d’André Brassard – Olivier Choinière (Montréal, Quebec), Atelier 10
• Wollstonecraft – Sarah Berthiaume (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions de Ta Mère
• Ornithorynques – Johanne Parent (Bathhurst, New Brunswick), Éditions Perce-Neige
• Rose – Isabelle Hubert (Québec City, Quebec), L’instant même

Non-fiction

• Hors jeu: Chronique culturelle et féministe sur l'industrie du sport professionnel – Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions du remue-ménage
• Noir satin – Stanley Péan (Montréal, Quebec), Les Éditions du Boréal
• Oser l’humour éthique: De Socrate à Virginie Fortin – Jérôme Cotte (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions Somme toute
• Porter plainte – Léa Clermont-Dion (Saint-Lambert, Quebec), Le Cheval d’août
• Une abeille suffit: Carnet d’observation d’un jardin urbain – Geneviève Boudreau (Québec City, Quebec), Éditions du Noroît

Young People’s Literature – Text

• Carreauté Kid – Marc-André Dufour-Labbé (Montréal, Quebec), Leméac Éditeur
• Déménager au ciel – Jean-Guy Forget, Mélodie Bujold-Henri (Montréal, Quebec (both)), la courte échelle
• Une bulle en dehors du temps – Stéfani Meunier (Montréal, Quebec), Leméac Éditeur
• Envole-toi, Mikun – Moira-Uashteskun Bacon (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions Hannenorak
• Les quatre vérités – Dominique Chicoine (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec), Les Éditions du Boréal

Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

• Histoires fantastiques (et peut-être vraies) – Caroline Merola (Montréal, Quebec), la courte échelle
• Jour d’orage – Marianne Ferrer (Montréal, Quebec), Monsieur Ed
• Le fil d’Alphée – Marie-Andrée Arsenault, Dominique Leroux (Montréal, Quebec / Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec), Les éditions la Morue verte
• Le premier arbre de Noël – Ovila Fontaine, Charlotte Parent (Maliotenam, Quebec / Bécancour, Quebec), Éditions de la Pastèque
• Margot veut une moustache – Iris Boudreau, Richard Écrapou (Montréal, Quebec (both)), Les Éditions de la Bagnole

Translation (from English to French)

• Ristigouche: Le long cours de la rivière sauvage – Éric Fontaine (Montréal, Quebec), Les Éditions du Boréal; translation of Restigouche: The Long Run of the Wild River, by Philip Lee
• Charlie Muskrat – Daniel Grenier (Québec City, Quebec), Éditions Hannenorak; translation of Charlie Muskrat, by Harold Johnson
• Cours vers le danger – Madeleine Stratford (Ottawa, Ontario), Les Éditions du Boréal; translation of Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory, by Sarah Polley
• La messagère – Sophie Voillot (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions Alto; translation of The Book of Rain, by Thomas Wharton
• Mourir pour la cause : révolution dans le Québec des années 1960 – Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau (Montréal, Quebec), Éditions Pow Pow; translation of Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? Revolution in 1960s Quebec, by Chris Oliveros

Makeup of the 2024 English-language peer assessment committees

Fiction: Chris Eaton, Francesca Ekwuyasi and Jen Ferguson
Poetry: Kathryn Mockler, Heather Nolan and Tolu Oloruntoba
Drama: Kevin Kerr, Marcia Johnson and Kamila Sediego
Non-fiction: Jordan Abel, Robyn Maynard and Mary Soderstrom
Young People’s Literature – Text: Sarah Everett, Louisa Onomé and Ken Setterington
Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books: Kyrsten Brooker, Shauntay Grant and Kevin Sylvester
Translation (from French to English): Peter Feldstein, Jessica Moore and Anne-Marie Wheeler

Makeup of the 2024 French-language peer assessment committees

Fiction: Michael Delisle, Andrée Michaud and Maya Ombasic
Poetry: Bathélemy Bolivar, Virginie Chaloux-Gendron and Daria Colonna
Drama: Madeleine Blais-Dahlem, Antoine Côté Legault and Anne-Marie Olivier
Non-fiction: Marie-Andrée Lamontagne, Pierrot Ross-Tremblay and Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny
Young People’s Literature – Text: Mario Brassard, Christine Sioui Wawanoloath and Élise Turcotte
Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books: Clément de Gaulejac, Diane Obomsawin and Isabelle Picard
Translation (from English to French): Jeannot Clair, Danielle LeBlanc and Nésida Loyer

About the Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”

The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes and payments contribute to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and support its presence across Canada and abroad. The Council’s investments foster greater engagement in the arts among audiences in Canada and internationally.

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