Giller Prize

Giller Prize
Awarded for	English-language Canadian fiction including translations
Country	Canada
Presented by	Scotiabank and the Giller Prize Foundation
First awarded	1994
Website	http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/

The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries. The prize was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Giller, a former literary editor at the Toronto Star, and is awarded in November of each year along with a cash reward (then CAN$25,000).^[1]

From 1994 to 2004, the prize included a bronze figure created by artist Yehouda Chaki.^[2] The current prize includes a trophy designed by Soheil Mosun.^[3]

On September 22, 2005, the Giller Prize established an endorsement deal with Scotiabank, a major Canadian bank. The total prize package for the award was increased to $50,000, with $40,000 presented to the winning author and $2,500 each for the other four shortlisted nominees. The award's official name was also changed at that time to the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

In 2006, the prize instituted a longlist for the first time, comprising no fewer than 10 and no more than 15 titles. In 2008, the prize fund was increased to $50,000 for the winning author and $5,000 for each of the authors on the shortlist. In 2014, the prize package was expanded further, to $100,000 for the winning author and $10,000 for each of the shortlisted authors.^[4] In 2015, the jury was expanded from three to five people.^[5]

Over the years, the Giller Prize has run different promotions to extend its recognition and support of Canadian literary talent^[6] to highlight all Canadian fiction eligible for the prize in a given publishing year. For example, the Crazy for CanLit feature, which highlights the initial list of all titles that are under consideration for the award's longlist and shortlist nominations, seeks to publicize Canadian literature by engaging readers and writers through social media tools.

Since its inception, the Giller Prize has been awarded to emerging and established authors from both small independent and large publishing houses in Canada.

Since Rabinovitch's death in 2017, the Giller Prize Foundation is now overseen by his daughter Elana Rabinovitch.^[7]

Cultural debate

Following Vincent Lam's win of the Giller Prize in 2006, Geist columnist Stephen Henighan criticized the Giller Prize for its apparent dependency for its shortlists and winners on books published by Bertelsmann AG-affiliated Canadian publishing houses, all of which are based in Toronto.

Arguing that the trend towards centralization of Canadian publishing in Toronto has led to a monopolistic control of the Giller Prize by Bertelsmann and its authors, Henighan wrote, "Year after year the vast majority of the books shortlisted for the Giller came from the triumvirate of publishers owned by the Bertelsmann Group: Knopf Canada, Doubleday Canada and Random House Canada. Like the three musketeers, this trio is in fact a quartet: Bertelsmann also owns 25 percent of McClelland & Stewart, and now manages M&S’s marketing."^[8] Henighan added that all of the Giller Prize winners from 1994 to 2004, with the exception of Mordecai Richler, lived within a two-hour drive of downtown Toronto.

The article raised debate within the media and in the wider public over the credibility of the Giller Prize.^[9][10][11] Henighan revisited that article in 2015.^[12]

In 2010, there was much talk about how small presses dominated that year’s shortlist.^[13] Montrealer Johanna Skibsrud won the Giller Prize that year for her novel The Sentimentalists, published by independent Gaspereau Press. The company produces books using a 1960s offset printing press and hand-bindery equipment.^[14] As a result, while there was great demand for the book in the marketplace, the publisher had trouble keeping up with production.^[15] In the end, they turned to Douglas & McIntyre,^[16] a large West-coast publisher, to print copies of the book.

The Gaspereau situation prompted an examination within the cultural community about what makes a book and the nature of publishing and marketing books.^[17] The book also became the top-selling title for Kobo eReaders, outselling even George W. Bush's memoir Decision Points.^[18]

Nominees and winners

Year	Winner	Nominated
1994 Jury: Alice Munro, Mordecai Richler, David Staines	M.G. Vassanji, The Book of Secrets	Bonnie Burnard, Casino and Other Stories Eliza Clark, What You Need Shyam Selvadurai, Funny Boy Steve Weiner, The Museum of Love
1995 Jury: Mordecai Richler, David Staines, Jane Urquhart	Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance	Timothy Findley, The Piano Man's Daughter Barbara Gowdy, Mister Sandman Leo McKay, Jr., Like This Richard B. Wright, The Age of Longing
1996 Jury: Bonnie Burnard, Carol Shields, David Staines	Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace	Gail Anderson-Dargatz, The Cure for Death by Lightning Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy
1997 Jury: Bonnie Burnard, Mavis Gallant, Peter Gzowski	Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version	Michael Helm, The Projectionist Shani Mootoo, Cereus Blooms at Night Nino Ricci, Where She Has Gone Carol Shields, Larry's Party
1998 Jury: Margaret Atwood, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Peter Gzowski	Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman	André Alexis, Childhood Gail Anderson-Dargatz, A Recipe for Bees Barbara Gowdy, The White Bone Greg Hollingshead, The Healer Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
1999 Jury: Alberto Manguel, Judith Mappin, Nino Ricci	Bonnie Burnard, A Good House	Timothy Findley, Pilgrim Anne Hébert, Am I Disturbing You? Nancy Huston, The Mark of the Angel David Macfarlane, Summer Gone
2000 Jury: Margaret Atwood, Alistair MacLeod, Jane Urquhart	Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost David Adams Richards, Mercy Among the Children	Alan Cumyn, Burridge Unbound Elizabeth Hay, A Student of Weather Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach Fred Stenson, The Trade
2001 Jury: David Adams Richards, Joan Clark, Robert Fulford	Richard B. Wright, Clara Callan	Sandra Birdsell, The Russlander Michael Crummey, River Thieves Michael Redhill, Martin Sloane Timothy Taylor, Stanley Park Jane Urquhart, The Stone Carvers
2002 Jury: Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King, W. H. New	Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe	Bill Gaston, Mount Appetite Wayne Johnston, The Navigator of New York Lisa Moore, Open Carol Shields, Unless
2003 Jury: Rosalie Abella, David Staines, Rudy Wiebe	M.G. Vassanji, The In-Between World of Vikram Lall	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake John Bemrose, The Island Walkers John Gould, Kilter: 55 Fictions Ann-Marie MacDonald, The Way the Crow Flies
2004 Jury: M. G. Vassanji, Alistair MacLeod, Charlotte Gray	Alice Munro, Runaway	Shauna Singh Baldwin, The Tiger Claw Wayson Choy, All That Matters Pauline Holdstock, Beyond Measure Paul Quarrington, Galveston Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness
2005 Jury: Warren Cariou, Elizabeth Hay, Richard B. Wright	David Bergen, The Time in Between	Joan Barfoot, Luck Camilla Gibb, Sweetness in the Belly Lisa Moore, Alligator Edeet Ravel, A Wall of Light
2006 Jury: Adrienne Clarkson, Alice Munro, Michael Winter[19]	Vincent Lam, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures	Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game Pascale Quiviger, The Perfect Circle (translation by Sheila Fischman) Gaétan Soucy, The Immaculate Conception (translation by Lazer Lederhendler) Carol Windley, Home Schooling
2007 Jury: David Bergen, Camilla Gibb, Lorna Goodison	Elizabeth Hay, Late Nights on Air	Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero Daniel Poliquin, A Secret Between Us (trans. Donald Winkler) M. G. Vassanji, The Assassin's Song Alissa York, Effigy
2008 Jury: Margaret Atwood, Bob Rae, Colm Toibin	Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce	Anthony De Sa, Barnacle Love Marina Endicott, Good to a Fault Rawi Hage, Cockroach Mary Swan, The Boys in the Trees
2009 Jury: Russell Banks, Victoria Glendinning, Alistair MacLeod	Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man	Kim Echlin, The Disappeared Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean Colin McAdam, Fall Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault
2010 Jury: Michael Enright, Claire Messud, Ali Smith[20]	Johanna Skibsrud, The Sentimentalists	David Bergen, The Matter with Morris Alexander MacLeod, Light Lifting Sarah Selecky, This Cake Is for the Party Kathleen Winter, Annabel
2011 Jury: Howard Norman, Annabel Lyon, Andrew O'Hagan[21]	Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues	David Bezmozgis, The Free World Lynn Coady, The Antagonist Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers Zsuzsi Gartner, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table
2012 Jury: Roddy Doyle, Gary Shteyngart, Anna Porter[22]	Will Ferguson, 419[23]	Alix Ohlin, Inside Nancy Richler, The Imposter Bride Kim Thúy, Ru Russell Wangersky, Whirl Away
2013 Jury: Margaret Atwood, Esi Edugyan, Jonathan Lethem[24]	Lynn Coady, Hellgoing[25]	Dennis Bock, Going Home Again Craig Davidson, Cataract City Lisa Moore, Caught Dan Vyleta, The Crooked Maid
2014 Jury: Shauna Singh Baldwin, Justin Cartwright, Francine Prose[26]	Sean Michaels, Us Conductors[27]	David Bezmozgis, The Betrayers Frances Itani, Tell Heather O'Neill, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows Padma Viswanathan, The Ever After of Ashwin Rao
2015 Jury: John Boyne (jury chair), Cecil Foster, Alexander MacLeod, Helen Oyeyemi, Alison Pick	André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs	Samuel Archibald, Arvida (translated by Donald Winkler) Rachel Cusk, Outline Heather O'Neill, Daydreams of Angels Anakana Schofield, Martin John
2016 Jury: Samantha Harvey, Jeet Heer, Lawrence Hill (jury chair), Alan Warner, Kathleen Winter	Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing	Mona Awad, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl Gary Barwin, Yiddish for Pirates Emma Donoghue, The Wonder Catherine Leroux, The Party Wall (translated by Lazer Lederhendler) Zoe Whittall, The Best Kind of People
2017 Jury: Andre Alexis, Anita Rau Badami (jury chair), Richard Beard, Lynn Coady, Nathan Englander	Michael Redhill, Bellevue Square[28]	Rachel Cusk, Transit Ed O'Loughlin, Minds of Winter Eden Robinson, Son of a Trickster Michelle Winters, I Am a Truck
2018 Jury: Kamal Al-Solaylee, Maxine Bailey, John Freeman, Philip Hensher, Heather O'Neill	Winner to be announced: November 19, 2018	Patrick deWitt, French Exit Éric Dupont, Songs for the Cold of Heart (tr. Peter McCambridge) Esi Edugyan, Washington Black Sheila Heti, Motherhood Thea Lim, An Ocean of Minutes

Longlists

References

External links

• Official website