One of the nations leading book award carrying a CDN$50,000 prize, an exclusive black-tie gala, and guaranteed bestseller status for the winner, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, carries weight. It is certainly up there with the US Nationals, the Pulitzer and the Book Critics as far as quality is concerned- the Canadian equivalent of the Booker in fact.

The award was founded in 1994 by Montreal real estate Sbusinessman Jack Rabinovich as a tribute to his late wife, Doris Giller. The prize goes to the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and is announced in November.

Beginning in 2005, the award was co-sponsored by Scotiabank and renamed the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

2008 Shortlist | 2008 Longlist | 2007 Winners & Lists | Past Winners 1994 to 2006

2008 Giller Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner

		Joseph Boyden for his novel Through Black Spruce, published by Viking Canada From internationally acclaimed author Joseph Boyden comes an astonishingly powerful novel of contemporary aboriginal life, full of the dangers and harsh beauty of both forest and city. When beautiful Suzanne Bird disappears, her sister Annie, a loner and hunter, is compelled to search for her, leaving behind their uncle Will, a man haunted by loss.While Annie travels from Toronto to New York, from modelling studios to A-list parties, Will encounters dire troubles at home. Both eventually come to painful discoveries about the inescapable ties of family. Through Black Spruce is an utterly unforgettable consideration of how we discover who we really are. amazon.ca \| abe Books Canada \| chapters.Indigo.ca \|amazon.com usa \| amazon uk \| seek books au \| fishpond nz\|
		2008 Giller Other Shortlisted
amazon.ca \| abe Books Canada \| chapters.Indigo.ca \|amazon.com usa \| amazon uk \| seek books au \| fishpond nz\|		Anthony De Sa for his collection of short stories Barnacle Love, published by Doubleday Canada Like Wayson Choy and David Bezmozgis before him, Anthony De Sa captures, in stories brimming with life, the innocent dreams and bitter disappointments of the immigrant experience. At the heart of this collection of intimately linked stories is the relationship between a father and his son. A young fisherman washes up nearly dead on the shores of Newfoundland. It is Manuel Rebelo who has tried to escape the suffocating smallness of his Portuguese village and the crushing weight of his mother’s expectations to build a future for himself in a terra nova. Manuel struggles to shed the traditions of a village frozen in time and to silence the brutal voice of Maria Theresa da Conceicao Rebelo, but embracing the promise of his adopted land is not as simple as he had hoped. Manuel’s son, Antonio, is born into Toronto’s little Portugal, a world of colourful houses and labyrinthine back alleys. In the Rebelo home the Church looms large, men and women inhabit sharply divided space, pigs are slaughtered in the garage, and a family lives in the shadow cast by a father’s failures. Most days Antonio and his friends take to their bikes, pushing the boundaries of their neighbourhood street by street, but when they finally break through to the city beyond they confront dangers of a new sort. With fantastic detail, larger-than-life characters and passionate empathy, Anthony De Sa invites readers into the lives of the Rebelos and finds there both the promise and the disappointment inherent in the choices made by the father and the expectations placed on the son.
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amazon.ca \| abe Books Canada \| chapters.Indigo.ca \|amazon.com usa \| amazon uk \| seek books au \| fishpond nz\|		Marina Endicott for her novel Good to A Fault, published by Freehand Books/Broadview Press In a novel reminiscent of the work of Penelope Lively, Ann Tyler, and Alice Munro, acclaimed author Marina Endicott gives us one of the most satisfying, most profound, and most memorable reads of the year. Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara—against all habit and comfort—moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house. We know what is good, but we don't do it. In Good to a Fault, Clara decides to give it a try, and then has to cope with the consequences: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. But she must question her own motives. Is she acting out of true goodness, or out of guilt? Most shamefully, has she taken over simply because she wants the baby for her own? What do we owe in this life, and what do we deserve? This compassionate, funny, and fiercely intelligent novel looks at life and death through grocery-store reading glasses: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice.
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amazon.ca \| abe Books Canada \| chapters.Indigo.ca \|amazon.com usa \| amazon uk \| seek books au \| fishpond nz\|		Rawi Hage for his novel Cockroach, published by House of Anansi Press One of the most highly anticipated novels of the year, Cockroach is as urgent, unsettling, and brilliant as Rawi Hage's bestselling and critically acclaimed first book, De Niro's Game. The novel takes place during one month of a bitterly cold winter in Montreal's restless immigrant community, where a self-described "thief" has just tried but failed to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a local park. Rescued against his will, the narrator is obliged to attend sessions with a well-intentioned but naïve therapist. This sets the story in motion, leading us back to the narrator's violent childhood in a war-torn country, forward into his current life in the smoky émigré cafés where everyone has a tale, and out into the frozen night-time streets of Montreal, where the thief survives on the edge, imagining himself to be a cockroach invading the lives of the privileged, but willfully blind, citizens who surround him. Like De Niro's Game, Cockroach combines an uncompromising vision of humanity with razor-sharp portraits of society's outsiders, and a startling, poetic sensibility with bracing jolts of dark humour.
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amazon.ca \| abe Books Canada \| chapters.Indigo.ca \|amazon.com usa \| amazon uk \| seek books au \| fishpond nz\|		Mary Swan for her novel The Boys in the Trees published by Henry Holt/HB Fenn Newly arrived to the countryside, William Heath, his wife, and two daughters appear the picture of a devoted family. But when accusations of embezzlement spur William to commit an unthinkable crime, those who witnessed this affectionate, attentive father go about his routine of work and family must reconcile action with character. A doctor who has cared for one daughter, encouraging her trust, examines the finer details of his brief interactions with William, searching for clues that might penetrate the mystery of his motivation. Meanwhile the other daughter's teacher grapples with guilt over a moment when fate wove her into a succession of events that will haunt her dreams. In beautifully crafted prose, Mary Swan examines the volatile collisions between our best intentions--how a passing stranger can leave an indelible mark on our lives even as the people we know most intimately become alienated by tides of self-preservation and regret. In her nuanced, evocative descriptions a locket contains immeasurable sorrow, trees provide sanctuary and refuge to lost souls, and grief clicks into place when a man cocks the cold steel barrel of a revolver. A supreme literary achievement, The Boys in the Trees offers a chilling story that swells with acutely observed emotion and humanity. Review New York Times back to top

2008 Longlist

The longlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, is stocked with familiar faces. Among the 15 nominated authors are three previous winners (David Adams Richards, David Bergen, and Austin Clarke) and two previous nominees (Rawi Hage, Paul Quarrington), as well as other brand-name CanLit authors (Nino Ricci, Joseph Boyden).

The Lost Highway by David Adams Richards (Doubleday Canada)

The Retreat by David Bergen (McClelland & Stewart)

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (Viking Canada)

More by Austin Clarke (Thomas Allen Publishers)

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa (Doubleday Canada)

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins Canada)

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott (Freehand Books)

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (Knopf Canada)

Cockroach by Rawi Hage (House of Anansi Press)

Blackstrap Hawco by Kenneth J. Harvey (Random House Canada)

Red Dog, Red Dog by Patrick Lane (McClelland & Stewart)

The Withdrawal Method by Pasha Malla (House of Anansi Press)

The Ravine by Paul Quarrington (Random House Canada)

The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci (Doubleday Canada)

The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan (Henry Holt/H.B. Fenn and Company)

Elizabeth Hay (left)wins lucrative 2007 Giller prize for her novel:

Late Nights on Air

The Other Finalists Were........

Michael Ondaatje for his novel Divisadero McClelland & Stewart

Daniel Poliquin for his novel Secret Between Us, trans. Donald Winkler, Douglas & McIntyre

M.G. Vassanji for his novel The Assassin's Song, Doubleday Canada

Alissa York for her novel Effigy, Random House Canada

2007 Giller Longlist

Previous Giller Prize Winners 1994-2006

2006 WINNER
Vincent Lam for Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures

Shortlist
Rawi Hage for De Niro’s Game
House of Anansi Press

Vincent Lam for Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
Doubleday Canada

Pascale Quiviger for The Perfect Circle, translation by Sheila Fischman
Cormorant Books

Gaétan Soucy for The Immaculate Conception, translation by Lazer Lederhendler
House of Anansi Press

Carol Windley for Home Schooling
Cormorant Books

Jury Panel
Adrienne Clarkson
Alice Munro
Michael Winter

2005 WINNER
David Bergen for The Time In Between

Shortlist
Joan Barfoot for Luck
Knopf Canada

David Bergen for The Time In Between
McClelland & Stewart

Camilla Gibb for Sweetness In The Belly
Doubleday Canada

Lisa Moore for Alligator
House of Anansi Press

Edeet Ravel for A Wall of Light
Random House Canada

Jury Panel
Warren Cariou
Elizabeth Hay
Richard B. Wrighti

2004 WINNER
Alice Munro for Runaway

Shortlist
Shauna Singh Baldwin for The Tiger Claw
Knopf Canada

Wayson Choy for All That Matters
Doubleday Canada

Pauline Holdstock for Beyond Measure
Cormorant Books

Alice Munro for Runaway
McClelland & Stewart / Douglas Gibson Books

Paul Quarrington for Galveston
Random House Canada

Miriam Toews for A Complicated Kindness
Knopf Canada

Jury Panel
Charlotte Gray
Alistair MacLeod
M.G. Vassanji

2003 WINNER
M.G. Vassanji for The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

Shortlist
Margaret Atwood for Oryx and Crake
McClelland & Stewart

John Bemrose for The Island Walkers
McClelland & Stewart

John Gould for Kilter: 55 Fictions
Turnstone Press

Ann-Marie MacDonald for The Way the Crow Flies
Knopf Canada

M.G. Vassanji for The In-Between World of Vikram Lall
Doubleday Canada

Jury Panel
Rosalie Silberman Abella
David Staines
Rudy Wieb

2002 WINNER
Austin Clarke for The Polished Hoe

Shortlist
Austin Clarke for The Polished Hoe
Thomas Allen Publishers

Bill Gaston for Mount Appetite
Raincoast Books

Wayne Johnston for The Navigator of New York
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Lisa Moore for Open
House of Anansi Press

Carol Shields for Unless
Random House Canada

Jury Panel
Barbara Gowdy
Thomas King
Bill New

2001 Winner
Richard B. Wright for Clara Callan

Shortlist
Sandra Birdsell for The Russlander
McClelland & Stewart

Michael Crummey for River Thieves
Doubleday Canada

Michael Redhill for Martin Sloane
Doubleday Canada

Timothy Taylor for Stanley Park
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Jane Urquhart for The Stone Carvers
McClelland & Stewart

Richard B. Wright for Clara Callan
HarperFlamingoCanada

Jury Panel
David Adams Richards
Joan Clark
Robert Fulford

2000 Winners
David Adams Richards for Mercy Among The Children
Michael Ondaatje for Anil's Ghost

Shortlist
Alan Cumyn for Burridge Unbound
McClelland & Stewart

David Adams Richards for Mercy Among The Children
Doubleday Canada

Elizabeth Hay for A Student of Weather
McClelland & Stewart

Michael Ondaatje for Anil's Ghost
McClelland & Stewart

Eden Robinson for Monkey Beach
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Fred Stenson for The Trade
Douglas & McIntyre

Jury Panel
Margaret Atwood
Alistair MacLeod
Jane Urquhart

1999 Winner
Bonnie Burnard for A Good House

Shortlist
Bonnie Burnard for A Good House
HarperFlamingoCanada

Timothy Findley for Pilgrim
HarperFlamingoCanada

Anne Hébert for Am I Disturbing You
House of Anasi Press

Nancy Huston for The Mark of the Angel
McArthur & Company

David MacFarlane for Summer Gone
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Jury Panel
Alberto Manguel
Judith Mappin
Nino Ricci

1998 Winner
Alice Munro for The Love of a Good Woman

Shortlist
Andre Alexis for Childhood
McClelland & Stewart

Gail Anderson-Dargatz for A Recipe for Bees
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Barbara Gowdy for The White Bone
HarperFlamingoCanada

Greg Hollingshead for The Healer
HarperFlamingoCanada / A Phyllis Bruce Book

Wayne Johnston for The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Alice Munro for The Love of a Good Woman
McClelland & Stewart / A Douglas Gibson Book

Jury Panel
Margaret Atwood
Guy Vanderhaeghe
Peter Gzowski

1997 Winner
Mordecai Richler for Barney's Version

Shortlist
Michael Helm for The Projectionist
Douglas & McIntyre

Shani Mootoo for Cereus Blooms at Night
Press Gang Publishers

Nino Ricci for Where She Has Gone
McClelland & Stewart

Mordecai Richler for Barney's Version
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

Carol Shields for Larry's Party
Random House of Canada

Jury Panel
Bonnie Burnard
Mavis Gallant
Peter Gzowski

1996 Winner
Margaret Atwood for Alias Grace

Shortlist
Gail Anderson-Dargatz for The Cure for Death by Lightning
Knopf Canada

Margaret Atwood for Alias Grace
Doubleday Canada

Ann-Marie MacDonald for Fall on Your Knees
Simon & Schuster

Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces
Thorndike

Guy Vanderhaeghe for The Englishman's Boy
McClelland & Stewart

Jury
Bonnie Burnard
Carol Shields
David Staines

1995 Winner
Rohinton Mistry for A Fine Balance

Shortlist
Timothy Findley for The Piano Man's Daughter
HarperCollins

Barbara Gowdy for Mister Sandman
Somerville House

Leo McKay Jr. for Like This
House of Anansi

Rohinton Mistry for A Fine Balance
McClelland & Stewart

Richard B. Wright for The Age of Longing
HarperCollins

Jury
Mordecai Richler
David Staines
Jane Urquhart

1994 Winner
M.G. Vassanji for The Book of Secrets

Shortlist
Bonnie Burnard for Casino and Other Stories
HarperCollins

Eliza Clark for What You Need
Somerville House

Shyam Selvadurai for Funny Boy
McClelland & Stewart

M.G. Vassanji for The Book of Secrets
McClelland & Stewart

Steve Weiner for The Museum of Love
Penguin Books Canada

Jury
Alice Munro
Mordecai Richler
David Staines

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2008 Giller Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner

2008 Giller Other Shortlisted

The Other Finalists Were........

Previous Giller Prize Winners 1994-2006