Thursday, October 12, 2006

Giller Prize 2006 (Short List)

Now that we have the Man Booker (winner Kiran Desai) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (which went to Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk) out of the way and before we receive the nominees for the Governer General's Award on Oct 16, we can concentrate on Canada's Booker known as the Giller Prize. I have resurrected a post from 04 Oct with the shortlist - the winner will be announced on Nov 7. I am sure there will be several blogs discussing books on the shortlist, for the moment I know Michelle @ ipublishpress will be doing some reviews and maybe Kate @ Kate's Book Blog.

Let me know if there are others, thanks.

Now to the post from Oct 04

As a Canadian book blogger, I would be terribly remiss if I didn't post the short list for Canada's
Giller Prize. The Giller Prize is Canada's most prestigious book prize and it aims to award excellence in Canadian English language - literature. The winner of the the literary prize stands to receive $40,000 and the runners-up get $2,500 each.

According to the Globe and Mail, the five candidates are largely unknowns (rookies in two cases) published mainly by small or medium-sized presses. Gasps were heard as the nominees were announced.

Moreover, two of the five shortlisted titles are French-to-English translations, and two are collections of short stories. Traditionally, the Giller has been the province of established anglophone novelists such as Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler and Richard Wright affiliated with larger publishers such as McClelland & Stewart, Doubleday Canada and Random House.

The five nominated books are: De Niro's Game, a debut novel by Montreal's Rawi Hage, published by Toronto's House of Anansi Press;




Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
, a debut collection of short stories by Torontonian Vincent Lam, published by Doubleday;



The Perfect Circle, a novel and the second work of fiction by Montreal-born Pascale Quiviger, first published in French in 2004 (for which it won the Governor-General's prize for francophone fiction), and now in an English translation by Sheila Fischman for Toronto's Cormorant Books;



The Immaculate Conception, a novel by Montrealer Gaétan Soucy that was first published in French in 1994 and now in an English translation by Lazer Lederhendler for Anansi;



Home Schooling, a collection of eight stories by Nanaimo's Carol Windley, published by Cormorant.



Save for "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures", I haven't read any of the books on this particular shortlist ( I do plan on reading "De Niro's Game", but for the rest I'll just read Kate's reviews)

13 comments:

Bookfool said...

Lotus,

I think it's tremendously exciting when novice authors win awards. From a readers' perspective, it brings fresh material into the limelight - we book-gobblers are always looking for suggestions (in spite of the towering TBRs). De Niro's game appeals to me more than the others, as well. I'll look forward to reading your review.

Joy said...

Hi Lotus! So...you're a Canadian, eh? My bestfriend is married to a Canadian, so we have some fun banter. :)

Mind if I add you onto my links?

Lotus Reads said...

So true, bookfool, I was surprised, but excited that the judges of the Giller's Prize this year decided not to be swayed by some of the heavies. The author of "De Niro's Game" will be speaking here at the International Festival of Authors - I would like to go see him but I have booked for another event that day. We'll see.

Lotus Reads said...

Hello, Joy!

So happy you could visit! I live in Canada (it's temporary for now and the plan is to return to India when my daughter goes to University).

Oh, yes, please add me to your list and I will do the same!

Booklogged said...

I'm being pulled to De Niro's Game and The Perfect Circle. Actually, Bloodletteing and Miraculous Cures sounds very interesting, too. Did you like it, Lotus?

Anonymous said...

i love your page. i've added you. read Bloodletting - the review is in the archives.

Lotus Reads said...

Hi, booklogged!

Oh, dear, I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that, lol, because I didn't really! Being an ER volunteer, I loved the premise, but I thought there was too much jargon and quite a bit of emphasis on the medical procedures instead of on the emotional drama. Still, it's not all bad and anocturne seems to have liked it quite a bit. Let me know if you would like to read it, my copy's just sitting here.

Hi, Anocturne!

So glad you could visit - I will be adding you, too. I'm excited to know you have a review for "Bloodletting...Cures" and that it's a positive one, too! Are you going to any of the events at the IFOA?

Lotus Reads said...

Thanks for headsup, Michelle, I look forward to the reviews at i publish press!

Anonymous said...

I'm really looking forward to the GG's being announced next week. I read all the nominees for English fiction last year and I'm looking forward to doing it again this year. I'm really curious to see if they are going to go for the big guns or if they are going to do what the Giller did and bring some attention to the little guys.

Lotus Reads said...

hi, sassymonkey!

I'm really excited to learn that you will be reading all the English fiction nominees for the GG's this year - I hope you will be posting your observations on your blog? And yes, won't it be thrilling if they, too, decide to go with the lesser-known authors ? :) Should be fun finding out!

I look forward to your reviews!

bibliobibuli said...

thanks for this. i should pay more attention to what's going on in canada!

Beenzzz said...

These books all looks so interesting. I read a book called "Counterflows to Colonialism" a while back for a class. I really enjoyed it. You might like it as well

Lotus Reads said...

Hi, bibliobibuli

I will do my best to keep you informed! :)


Hi, Beenzzz

I will have to look for "Counterflows to Colonialism" , it sure sounds good. Thanks for the headsup!