Longlist Announced in Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize

In News by Dennis Abrams

A cohort of 12 titles are in Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist with finalists to be announced on September 26, a winner on November 7.
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By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2

‘Playfully Verbose…Quietly Powerful’
The Scotiabank Giller Prize has announced its longlist for its 2016 award.

The twelve titles that made the list were selected from a field of 161 books submitted by 69 publishers’ imprints from every region of Canada.

The longlist for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

‘Global Perspectives’

The longlist was chosen by a five-member jury: Canadian writer Lawrence Hill chaired a panel that includes fellow Canadians Jeet Heer and Kathleen Winter as well as British author Samantha Harvey and Scotland’s Alan Warner.

Of the longlist, the jury writes:

500-scotiabank-giller-logo-lined“The quality and depth of Canadian fiction made it challenging to select the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Many more stories and novels deserve a place on the list.

“As jurors, we salute all 161 writers whose books were brought to our attention. We selected works that reflect the boldness, originality and global perspectives that have come to characterize much Canadian writing. The books span a range of narrative styles–some playfully verbose and others quietly powerful.

“The books explore various obsessions: genocide in 20th century China and in medieval Spain; the neglect, abuse or theft of children in Ireland, North America and Guatemala; the dangers of nuclear testing; the unapologetic pursuit of crime and criminals; and the surprising ways that table manners, travel, body shape, illness, violence, and love influence self-esteem and intimate relationships.

“We, the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize jurors, encourage book lovers to discover the works that moved us, and to keep reading Canadian literature widely.”

Readings in Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto

The Scotiabank Giller Prize will present a series of readings, featuring this year’s shortlisted authors in:

  • Halifax on October 14,
  • Vancouver on October 17, and
  • Toronto on November 6.

These events, called “Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists” are listed with information here.

The stated goal of the prize is to highlight the best in Canadian fiction on a yearly basis. The prize awards CA$100,000 ($77,000) to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story published in English and CA$10,000 ($US7,000) to each of the finalists.

The award is named in honor of the late literary journalist Doris Gillar and was founded in 1994 by her husband, Toronto businessman Jack Rabniovitch.

Finalists will be announced on September 26th. The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize will air on CBC and streamed at CBCBooks.ca on Monday, November 7. Check local listings for times.

About the Author

Dennis Abrams

Dennis Abrams is a contributing editor for Publishing Perspectives, responsible for news, children's publishing and media. He's also a restaurant critic, literary blogger, and the author of "The Play's The Thing," a complete YA guide to the plays of William Shakespeare published by Pentian, as well as more than 30 YA biographies and histories for Chelsea House publishers.