2008 Governor General's Awards
Encyclopedia
The shortlisted nominees for the 2008 Governor General's Award
s for Literary Merit were announced on October 21, and winning titles were announced on November 18. Each winner received a cheque for $25,000 and a copy of their book bound by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois.
Skim
in the Children's Literature category. The nomination was credited to Mariko Tamaki, who wrote the graphic novel's text, but not to her cousin and co-creator Jillian Tamaki, who drew the illustrations.
Two prominent Canadian graphic novelists, Seth
and Chester Brown
, circulated an open letter to the Canada Council asking them to revise the nomination, arguing that unlike a more traditional illustrated book, a graphic novel's text and illustration are inseparable parts of the work's narrative, and that both women should accordingly be credited as equal co-authors. Their letter was also endorsed by other prominent Canadian and American graphic novelists, including Lynda Barry
, Dan Clowes, Art Spiegelman
, Chris Ware
and Julie Doucet
, as well as by Chris Oliveros of Canadian comic and graphic novel publisher Drawn & Quarterly and Peter Birkemore of Toronto comic store The Beguiling.
Melanie Rutledge, a spokesperson for the Canada Council, responded that it was too late to revise the nominations for the 2008 awards, but that the council would take the feedback into account in the future.
The Canada Council later faced controversy over its selection of Jacob Scheier
's More to Keep Us Warm. Di Brandt
, one of the poetry award's jurors, was credited by Scheier as a friend and mentor in the book's creation, resulting in debate over whether Brandt should have recused herself from the judging panel.
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
s for Literary Merit were announced on October 21, and winning titles were announced on November 18. Each winner received a cheque for $25,000 and a copy of their book bound by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois.
Controversy
The Canada Council for the Arts, the award program's administrator, faced some criticism around its nomination of the graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Skim
Skim (graphic novel)
Skim is a Canadian graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Jillian Tamaki. Set in 1993, in a Toronto Catholic girls high school, it is about an outsider girl called Skim.-Plot:...
in the Children's Literature category. The nomination was credited to Mariko Tamaki, who wrote the graphic novel's text, but not to her cousin and co-creator Jillian Tamaki, who drew the illustrations.
Two prominent Canadian graphic novelists, Seth
Seth (cartoonist)
Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant , a Canadian comic book artist and writer. He is best known for comics such as Palookaville.Born in Clinton, Ontario, Seth attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto...
and Chester Brown
Chester Brown
Chester William David Brown , is an award-winning, best-selling Canadian alternative cartoonist and, since 2008, the Libertarian Party of Canada's candidate for the riding of Trinity-Spadina in Toronto, Canada....
, circulated an open letter to the Canada Council asking them to revise the nomination, arguing that unlike a more traditional illustrated book, a graphic novel's text and illustration are inseparable parts of the work's narrative, and that both women should accordingly be credited as equal co-authors. Their letter was also endorsed by other prominent Canadian and American graphic novelists, including Lynda Barry
Lynda Barry
Lynda Barry is an American cartoonist and author. One of the most successful non-mainstream American cartoonists, Barry is perhaps best known for her weekly comic strip Ernie Pook's Comeek. Barry's cartoons often view family life from the perspective of pre-teen girls from the wrong side of the...
, Dan Clowes, Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
, Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
and Julie Doucet
Julie Doucet
Julie Doucet is a Canadian former underground cartoonist and artist, best known for her autobiographical works such as Dirty Plotte and My New York Diary...
, as well as by Chris Oliveros of Canadian comic and graphic novel publisher Drawn & Quarterly and Peter Birkemore of Toronto comic store The Beguiling.
Melanie Rutledge, a spokesperson for the Canada Council, responded that it was too late to revise the nominations for the 2008 awards, but that the council would take the feedback into account in the future.
The Canada Council later faced controversy over its selection of Jacob Scheier
Jacob Scheier
Jacob Scheier is a Canadian poet. His debut poetry collection, More to Keep Us Warm, was published by ECW Press in 2007 and was named the winner of the 2008 Governor General's Award for English poetry....
's More to Keep Us Warm. Di Brandt
Di Brandt
Di Brandt is an award-winning Canadian poet and literary critic. Despite the similarity of their names, she should not be confused with poet Dionne Brand.-Biography:...
, one of the poetry award's jurors, was credited by Scheier as a friend and mentor in the book's creation, resulting in debate over whether Brandt should have recused herself from the judging panel.
Fiction
- Nino RicciNino RicciNino Ricci is a Canadian novelist who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He was born in Leamington, Ontario to Italian immigrants, Virginio and Amelia Ricci, from the province of Isernia, Molise....
, The Origin of Species - Rivka GalchenRivka GalchenRivka Galchen is a Canadian-American writer. Her first novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, was published in 2008, has been translated into over 20 languages, and was awarded the William J. Saroyan International Prize for Fiction....
, Atmospheric Disturbances - Rawi HageRawi Hage-Early life and education:Born in Beirut, Hage grew up in Lebanon and Cyprus. He moved to New York City in 1984. In 1991, he relocated to Montreal, where he studied Photography at Dawson College and Fine Arts at Concordia University. He subsequently began exhibiting as a photographer, and has had...
, Cockroach - David Adams RichardsDavid Adams RichardsDavid Adams Richards, CM, ONB is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, three credits shy of completing a B.A.. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and...
, The Lost Highway - Fred StensonFred Stenson (writer)Frederick Stenson is a Canadian writer of historical fiction and non-fiction relating to the Canadian West.In addition to his published work, Stenson has been a faculty member at The Banff Centre, where he has directed the Wired Writing Studio for eleven years. He is also a documentary film...
, The Great Karoo
Poetry
- Jacob ScheierJacob ScheierJacob Scheier is a Canadian poet. His debut poetry collection, More to Keep Us Warm, was published by ECW Press in 2007 and was named the winner of the 2008 Governor General's Award for English poetry....
, More to Keep Us Warm - Weyman Chan, Noise from the Laundry
- A. F. MoritzA. F. MoritzAlbert Frank Moritz is a poet, teacher, and scholar.Born in Niles, Ohio, Moritz was educated at Marquette University. Since 1975, he has made his home in Toronto, Ontario where he has worked variously as an advertising copywriter and executive, editor, publisher, and university professor...
, The Sentinel - Sachiko Murakami, The Invisibility Exhibit
- Ruth Roach Pierson, Aide-Mémoire
Drama
- Catherine Banks, Bone Cage
- Ronnie BurkettRonnie BurkettRonnie Burkett is a Canadian puppeteer, best known for his original theatrical plays for adults, performed with marionettes...
, 10 Days on Earth - Paul Ciufo, Reverend Jonah
- Marie ClementsMarie ClementsMarie Clements is a Métis playwright, performer, director, producer screenwriter, and founding artistic director of urban ink productions and fathom labs highway. Clements lives on Galiano Island British Columbia Canada...
, Copper Thunderbird - Judith ThompsonJudith ThompsonJudith Clare Thompson, OC is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail once declared that "...in this country, a playwright as good as Judith Thompson is a miracle." She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the...
, Palace of the End
Non-fiction
- Christie BlatchfordChristie BlatchfordChristie Blatchford is a Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster. She has published four non-fiction books.-Life and work:...
, Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army - Douglas Hunter, God’s Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery
- Sid Marty, The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek
- James OrbinskiJames OrbinskiJames Jude Orbinski, OC, OOnt, MSC is a Canadian physician, writer, and humanitarian activist. He is an associate professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs. In January 2011, he also assumed the Chair of Global Health at the Dalla Lana...
, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century - Chris TurnerChris Turner (author)Chris Turner is a Canadian author. He is the author of Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, published in 2004...
, The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need
Children's literature (text)
- John IbbitsonJohn IbbitsonJohn Ibbitson is a Canadian writer and journalist. He is currently Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Globe and Mail...
, The Landing - Alma Fullerton, Libertad
- Dianne Linden, Shimmerdogs
- Shenaaz NanjiShenaaz NanjiShenaaz Nanji is an Indian Canadian children's and young adult author. She currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.- Writing :...
, Child of Dandelions - Mariko Tamaki, SkimSkim (graphic novel)Skim is a Canadian graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Jillian Tamaki. Set in 1993, in a Toronto Catholic girls high school, it is about an outsider girl called Skim.-Plot:...
Children's literature (illustration)
- Stéphane Jorisch, The Owl and the Pussycat (Edward LearEdward LearEdward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
) - Isabelle Arseneault, My Letter to the World and Other Poems (Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
) - Josée Bisaillon, The Emperor’s Second Hand Clothes (Anne Millyard)
- Matt James, Yellow Moon, Apple Moon (Pamela PorterPamela PorterPamela Porter is an American novelist of children's literature and poetry. She was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has also lived in Texas, Louisiana, Washington and Montana. She immigrated to Canada with her husband, the fourth generation of a Saskatchewan farm family and now resides in...
) - Kim LaFave, Shin-chi's Canoe (Nicola Campbell)
French-to-English translation
- Lazer LederhendlerLazer LederhendlerLazer Lederhendler is a Canadian literary translator and academic. A four-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for French to English translation, he won the award in 2008 for his translation of Nicolas Dickner's novel Nikolski...
, NikolskiNikolski (novel)Nikolski is an award-winning novel by Canadian writer Nicolas Dickner. Originally published in 2005 in French, an English edition translated by Lazer Lederhendler was published in 2008....
(Nikolski, Nicolas DicknerNicolas DicknerNicolas Dickner is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for his 2005 novel Nikolski, which has won numerous literary awards in Canada both in its original French and translated English editions.He currently lives in Montreal, where he is a literary columnist for the...
) - Jo-Anne Elder, Beatitudes (Béatitudes, Herménégilde ChiassonHerménégilde Chiasson-External links:* entry in *...
) - Liedewy Hawke, The Postman's Round (Le facteur émotif, Denis ThériaultDenis ThériaultDenis Thériault is a Quebec writer. His first novel, L'Iguane, was published in 2001. It won that year's Prix Anne-Hébert and Prix Quebec-France/Jean-Hamelin, and was the winning title in the 2007 edition of Le Combat des livres....
) - Paul Leduc Browne and Michelle Weinroth, The Making of the Nations and Cultures of the New World (Genèse des nations et cultures du Nouveau Monde, Gérard BouchardGérard BouchardGérard Bouchard is a historian, sociologist and writer from Quebec, Canada, affiliated with the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Born in Jonquière, Quebec, he obtained his master's degree in sociology from Université Laval in 1968 and later obtained his PhD degree in history from the University...
) - Fred A. ReedFred A. ReedFred A. Reed is a journalist and translator of literature who has published and translated several books.-Books:*Persian postcards: Iran after Khomemi. Talonbooks. 1994. ISBN 0889224439...
, Orfeo (Orfeo, Hans-Jürgen Greif)
Fiction
- Marie-Claire BlaisMarie-Claire BlaisMarie-Claire Blais, is a Canadian author and playwright.- Life :Born in Quebec City, Quebec, she was educated at a convent school and at Université Laval. It was at Laval that she met Jeanne Lapointe and Father Georges Lévesque, who encouraged her to write and, in 1959, to publish her first...
, Naissance de Rebecca à l’ère des tourments - Jean-François Beauchemin, Ceci est mon corps
- Guillaume Corbeil, L'Art de la fugue
- Monique ProulxMonique ProulxMonique Proulx is a Canadian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter.-Works:*Sans cœur et sans reproche, *Le sexe des étoiles **The Sex of the Stars...
, Champagne - Jean-Pierre Trépanier, Colomia
Poetry
- Michel Pleau, La lenteur du monde
- Steve Auger, Le rosier incendiaire
- François Charron, Nous aurons tout vécu
- Henri Chassé, Morceaux de tempête
- Michel A. Thérien, Du vertige et de l’espoir: Carnets africains
Drama
- Jennifer Tremblay, La liste
- Yvan Bienvenue, La vie continue
- Carole Fréchette, Serial Killer et autres pièces courtes
- Catherine Mavrikakis, Omaha Beach
- Wajdi MouawadWajdi MouawadWajdi Mouawad, OC is a Canadian writer, actor and director born in Lebanon in 1968. After living in France for a short time, he moved to Quebec in 1983.- Biography :He obtained his diploma from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991....
, Le soleil ni la mort ne peuvent se regarder en face
Non-fiction
- Pierre Ouellet, Hors-temps: poétique de la posthistoire
- Adèle Lauzon, Pas si tranquille
- Georges Leroux, Partita pour Glenn Gould: musique et forme de vie
- André Major, L’esprit vagabond
- Louise Warren, La forme et le deuil: archives du lac
Children's literature (text)
- Sylvie Desrosiers, Les trois lieues
- Camille Bouchard, Trente-neuf
- Charlotte Gingras, Ophélie
- François Gravel, Sales crapauds
- Carole Tremblay, Fred Poulet enquête sur une chaussette
Children's literature (illustration)
- Janice Nadeau, Ma meilleure amie (Gilles Tibo)
- Philippe Béha, Les pays inventés (Henriette Major)
- Stéphane Jorisch, Un cadeau pour Sophie (Gilles VigneaultGilles VigneaultGilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
) - Marie Lafrance, Le sorcier amoureux (Mireille Levert)
- Caroline Merola, Quand le chat est parti (Caroline Merola)
English-to-French translation
- Claire Chabalier and Louise Chabalier, Tracey en mille morceaux (The Tracey FragmentsThe Tracey FragmentsThe Tracey Fragments may refer to:* The Tracey Fragments , a novel written by Maureen Medved.* The Tracey Fragments , a 2007 movie directed by Bruce McDonald and starring Ellen Page based on the homonymous novel above....
, Maureen MedvedMaureen MedvedMaureen Medved is a Canadian writer and playwright. She is also an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. She has been published in literary journals and magazines and has had her plays produced in Vancouver, Waterloo and Toronto...
) - Dominique Bouchard, Les grands lacs: histoire naturelle d’une région en perpétuelle mutation (The Great Lakes: The Natural History of a Changing Region, Wayne GradyWayne Grady (author)Wayne Grady is a Canadian writer, editor, and translator; currently working as the science editor of Equinox.Grady won the 1989 Governor General's Award for French to English translation for On the Eighth Day, the John Glassco Prize for Literary Translation for Christopher Cartier of Hazelnut and...
) - Jean-Marc DalpéJean-Marc DalpéJean Marc Dalpé is a Canadian playwright and poet. He is one of the most important figures in Franco-Ontarian literature....
, Roc & rail: Trains fantômes suivi de Slague: l’histoire d’un mineur (Roc’n Rail: Ghost Trains and Spitting Slag, Mansel Robinson) - Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Big Bang (Bang Crunch, Neil SmithNeil Smith (writer)Neil Smith is a Canadian short story writer. A three-time nominee for the Journey Prize and winner of an honourable mention at the National Magazine Awards, Smith published his debut collection, Bang Crunch, with Knopf Canada in 2007...
) - Sophie Voillot, Logogryphe (The Logogryph, Thomas WhartonThomas Wharton-Life:Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Wharton attended the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. He was a student of Rudy Wiebe and Greg Hollingshead. His first novel began as his M.A. thesis, under the supervision of Kristjana Gunnars. He worked on his PhD at Calgary with Aritha...
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