Canadian Living Books
The Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist has been announced
The Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist
Canadian Living Books
The Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist has been announced
This prestigious prize, that honours Canadian authors announced the 12 finalists on September 17, 2018.
About five or six years ago, when I wanted to make sure I was reading a good amount of Canadian literature alongside international authors, I turned to past Scotiabank Giller Prize longlists to get me started.
If you don’t know, Jack Rabinovitch, who wanted to honour his wife Doris Giller, a literary journalist who had passed away, founded the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 1994. What started as a $25,000 prize initially has now grown to be $140,000 thanks to the co-sponsorship of Scotiabank. In 2018, the Scotiabank Giller prize is recognized as an institution that celebrates and promotes Canadian literature and is an event book lovers look forward to, at least in our offices.
This year, the jury (who picked 12 titles from over 100 submitted titles) includes authors Kamal Al-Solaylee, Heather O’Neill and Philip Hensher alongside Maxine Bailey, TIFF Vice-President of Advancement and John Freeman, founder of the literary biannual Freeman’s.
Here's what the jury had to say about this year's list, according to the Scotiabank Giller Prize website:
“We the jury devoted many, many delightful and arduous months of our lives coming up with this longlist. Our sole criteria going into this process was literary excellence. We were looking for books that were written in elevated, idiosyncratic, original prose that exhibited an exquisite command of the art of language, and unparalleled mastery of structure and storytelling. We argued viciously over books, expounding on their merits. But when the battle was over, what remained left us in awe. This list reflects the landscape of the current Canadian imagination: diverse, bold, edgy, exciting, reflective, aware, angry and joyous. Leave it to our literature to speak out beautifully from the far-flung edges of this huge mysterious land, and sing about the erased, the immigrants, the oppressed, the survivors, the entitled. It also reflects the myriad genres that Canadian writers are working in: auto-fiction, science-fiction, epic family sagas, historical novels, coming of age dramas, short-stories, satire. These are stories about and beyond Canada, a list so exciting, exhibiting such pure excellence, it stands up to any list in the world, and it is great, great fun to read.”
This year, here are the finalists. We can’t wait to see who wins on November 19, 2018—though you can catch the shortlist on October 1, 2018.
French Exit by Patrick DeWitt (House of Anansi)
Read our review of French Exit.
Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper (Hamish Hamilton)
Read our review of Our Homesick Songs.
Washington Black by Edi Edugyan (Patrick Crean Editions)
Read our review of Washington Black.
Songs For The Cold Of Heart by Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge (QC Fiction)
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq (Viking Canada)
Something For Everyone by Lisa Moore (Astoria)
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Vi by Kim Thuy, translated by Sheila Fischman (Random House Canada)
Zolitude by Paige Cooper (A John Metcalf Book)
An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim (Viking Canada)
Read our review of An Ocean of Minutes.
Beirut Hellfire Society by Rawi Hage (Knopf Canada)
Motherhood by Sheila Heti (Knopf Canada)
Read our review of Motherhood.
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