2005 Governor General's Awards

The nominees for the 2005 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 17. Winning titles were announced on November 16. The winners received a cheque for $15,000 and a specially crafted copy of their book bound by master bookbinder Lise Dubois.

English-language finalists

Fiction

"Winner":
*David Gilmour, "A Perfect Night to Go to China""Other finalists":
*Joseph Boyden, "Three Day Road"
*Golda Fried, "Nellcott is My Darling"
*Charlotte Gill, "Ladykiller"
*Kathy Page, "Alphabet"

Poetry

"Winner":
*Anne Compton, "Processional""Other finalists":
*Barry Dempster, "The Burning Alphabet"
*Erin Mouré, "Little Theatres"
*W. H. New, "Underwood Log"
*Olive Senior, "Over the Roofs of the World"

Drama

"Winner":
*John Mighton, "Half Life""Other finalists":
*Marjorie Chan, "China Doll"
*Don Druick, "Through the Eyes"
*Daniel MacIvor, "Cul-de-sac"
*Richard Sanger, "Two Words for Snow"

Nonfiction

"Winner":
*John Vaillant, "The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed""Other finalists":
*Ted Bishop, "Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books"
*Michael Mitchell, "The Molly Fire"
*Edward Shorter, "Written in the Flesh: A History of Desire"
*Jessica Warner, "The Incendiary: The Misadventures of John the Painter, First Modern Terrorist"

Children's Literature - Text

"Winner":
*Pamela Porter, "The Crazy Man""Other finalists":
*Francis Chalifour, "After"
*Barbara Nickel, "Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach"
*Gail Nyoka, "Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale"
*Shyam Selvadurai, "Swimming in the Monsoon Sea"

Children's Literature - Illustration

"Winner":
*Rob Gonsalves, "Imagine a Day" (Sarah L. Thomson)"Other finalists":
*Kyrsten Brooker, "City Angel" (Eileen Spinelli)
*Wallace Edwards, "Mixed Beasts" (Kenyon Cox)
*Murray Kimber, "The Highwayman" (Alfred Noyes)
*Rajka Kupesic, "Maria Chapdelaine" (Louis Hémon)

Translation (French to English)

"Winner":
*Fred A. Reed, "Truth or Death: The Quest for Immortality in the Western Narrative Tradition" (Thierry Hentsch, "Raconter et mourir : aux sources narratives de l’imaginaire occidental")"Other finalists":
*Jane Brierley, "America: The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Dawn of a New Power" (Denis Vaugeois, "America, 1803-1853 : l’expédition de Lewis & Clark et la naissance d’une nouvelle puissance")
*Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood, "Yesterday, at the Hotel Clarendon" (Nicole Brossard, "Hier")
*Wayne Grady, "Return from Africa" (Francine D'Amour, "Le Retour d’Afrique")
*Fred A. Reed and David Homel, "All that Glitters" (Martine Desjardins, "L'Élu du hasard")

French language finalists

Fiction

"Winner":
*Aki Shimazaki, "Hotaru""Other finalists":
*Marie-Claire Blais, "Augustino et le chœur de la destruction"
*Nicolas Dickner, "Nikolski"
*Christiane Frenette, "Après la nuit rouge"
*Guy Lalancette, "Un amour empoulaillé"

Poetry

"Winner":
*Jean-Marc Desgent, "Vingtièmes siècles""Other finalists":
*Marc André Brouillette, "M'accompagne"
*François Dumont, "Brisures"
*Danielle Fournier, "Il n’y a rien d’intact dans ma chair"
*Fernand Ouellette, "L’Inoubliable: Chronique I"

Drama

"Winner":
*Geneviève Billette, "Le Pays des genoux""Other finalists":
*Jean-Rock Gaudreault, "Pour ceux qui croient que la Terre est ronde"
*François Godin, "Louisiane Nord"
*Marie-Christine Lê-Huu, "Jouliks"

Non-Fiction

"Winner":
*Michel Bock, "Quand la nation débordait les frontières: les minorités françaises dans la pensée de Lionel Groulx""Other finalists":
*Paul Bleteau and Mario Poirier, "Le vagabond stoïque: Louis Hémon"
*Gilles Dostaler, "Keynes et ses combats"
*Éric Méchoulan, "Le livre avalé: de la littérature entre mémoire et culture (XVIe – XVIIIe siècle)"
*Sébastien Vincent, "Laissés dans l’ombre: les Québécois engagés volontaires de 39-45 (ou quatorze Québécois racontent leur participation volontaire à la Seconde Guerre mondiale)"

Children's Literature - Text

"Winner":
*Camille Bouchard, "Le Ricanement des hyènes""Other finalists":
*Alain M. Bergeron, "Les Tempêtes ou Les mémoires d’un Beatle raté"
*Jean-Pierre Davidts, "Le Baiser de la sangsue"
*Danielle Marcotte, "Les sabots rouges"
*Sylvain Meunier, "L’homme à la bicyclette"

Children's Literature - Illustration

"Winner":
*Isabelle Arsenault, "Le cœur de monsieur Gauguin" (Marie-Danielle Croteau)"Other finalists":
*Pascale Constantin, "La vie comptée de Raoul Lecompte" (Gilles Tibo)
*Luc Melanson, "Les compositeurs" (Claudio Ricignuolo)
*Stéphane Poulin, "Un chant de Noël" (Lucie Papineau)
*Pierre Pratt, "Le jour où Zoé zozota" (Pierre Pratt)

Translation - English to French

"Winner":
*Rachel Martinez, "Glenn Gould: une vie" (Kevin Bazzana, "Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould")"Other finalists":
*Benoit Léger, "Miracles en série" (Carol Shields, "Various Miracles")
*Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, "Drôle de tendresse" (Miriam Toews, "A Complicated Kindness")
*Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, "La fille du Kamikaze" (Kerri Sakamoto, "One Hundred Million Hearts")
*Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, "Le Vol du corbeau" (Ann-Marie MacDonald, "The Way the Crow Flies")

External links

* [http://www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2005/nz127737065571691369.htm Canada Council press release announcing the 2005 nominees]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/11/16/Arts/ggawards_051116.html CBC: David Gilmour wins GG for English fiction]