Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama
Encyclopedia
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award
for English-language poetry or drama. The award was created in 1937, the second year of the awards, and existed until 1980, when it was split into the separate awards for poetry
and drama
.
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...
for English-language poetry or drama. The award was created in 1937, the second year of the awards, and existed until 1980, when it was split into the separate awards for poetry
Governor General's Award for English language poetry
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Awards award for English-language poetry. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama was divided.-1980s:...
and drama
Governor General's Award for English language drama
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English-language drama. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama was divided.-1980s:*1981: Sharon Pollock, Blood Relations...
.
1930s
- 19371937 Governor General's AwardsThe 1937 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the second such awards, and the first to include a category for poetry and drama. No monetary prize was yet given; the awards were simply recognition of the authors.-Winners:...
: E. J. PrattE. J. PrattEdwin John Dove Pratt, FRSC , who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time." He was a Canadian poet originally from Newfoundland who lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario...
, The Fable of the Goats - 19381938 Governor General's AwardsThe 1938 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the third such awards. No monetary prize was yet given; the awards were simply recognition of the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Gwethalyn Graham, Swiss Sonata...
: Kenneth LeslieKenneth LeslieKenneth Leslie was a Canadian poet and songwriter, and an influential political activist in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. He was the founder and editor of The Protestant Digest , which had a peak circulation of over 50,000 subscribers...
, By Stubborn Stars - 19391939 Governor General's AwardsThe 1939 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fourth such awards. No monetary prize was yet given; the awards were simply recognition of the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Franklin D. McDowell, The Champlain Road...
: Arthur S. Bourinot Under the Sun
1940s
- 19401940 Governor General's AwardsThe 1940 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fifth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Ringuet, Thirty Acres....
: E. J. PrattE. J. PrattEdwin John Dove Pratt, FRSC , who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time." He was a Canadian poet originally from Newfoundland who lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario...
, Brébeuf and His Brethren - 19411941 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1941 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fifth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Alan Sullivan, Three Came to Ville Marie....
: Anne MarriottAnne MarriottAnne Marriott was a Canadian writer who won the Governor General’s Award for her book Calling Adventurers! "She was renowned especially for the narrative poem The Wind, Our Enemy," which she wrote while still in her twenties.-Life:Because of The Wind Our Enemy, Marriott is often thought to be...
, Calling Adventurers! - 19421942 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada the 1942 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the sixth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: G...
: Earle BirneyEarle BirneyEarle Alfred Birney, OC, FRSC was a distinguished Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, for his poetry.-Life:...
, David and Other Poems - 19431943 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada the 1943 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the seventh such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:...
: A.J.M. Smith, News of the Phoenix - 19441944 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1944 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the eighth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Gwethalyn Graham, Earth and High Heaven....
: Dorothy LivesayDorothy LivesayDorothy Kathleen May Livesay, was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General`s Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.-Life:...
, Day and Night - 19451945 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1945 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the ninth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.- Winners :*Fiction: Hugh MacLennan, Two Solitudes....
: Earle BirneyEarle BirneyEarle Alfred Birney, OC, FRSC was a distinguished Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, for his poetry.-Life:...
, Now is Time - 19461946 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1946 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the tenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Winifred Bambrick, Continental Revue....
: Robert FinchRobert Finch (poet)Robert Duer Claydon Finch was a Canadian poet and academic. He twice won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, for his poetry.-Life:...
, Poems - 19471947 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1947 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the eleventh such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Gabrielle Roy, The Tin Flute....
: Dorothy LivesayDorothy LivesayDorothy Kathleen May Livesay, was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General`s Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.-Life:...
, Poems for People - 19481948 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1948 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the twelfth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Hugh MacLennan, The Precipice ....
: A.M. Klein, The Rocking Chair and Other Poems - 19491949 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1949 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the thirteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors. These were the first awards to give a prize for children's literature....
: James ReaneyJames ReaneyJames Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...
, The Red Heart
1950s
- 19501950 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1950 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fourteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Germaine Guèvremont, The Outlander ....
: James Wreford WatsonJames Wreford WatsonJames Wreford Watson was a Scottish/Canadian geographer and cartographer, who served as Canada's Chief Geographer...
, Of Time and the Lover - 19511951 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1951 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fifteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Morley Callaghan, The Loved and the Lost....
: Charles BruceCharles BruceCharles Bruce may refer to:*Charles Bruce , colonial administraor*Charles Bruce , Scottish astrophysicist*Charles Lennox Cumming Bruce , Scottish politician...
, The Mulgrave Road - 19521952 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1952 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the sixteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: David Walker, The Pillar....
: E.J. Pratt, Towards the Last SpikeTowards the Last SpikeTowards the Last Spike was written in 1952 by Canadian poet E. J. Pratt. It is a long narrative poem in blank verse about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad line in Canada, that of the Canadian Pacific Railway , from 1871 through 1885.The poem won Pratt the Governor General's... - 19531953 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1953 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the seventeenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: David Walker, Digby....
: Douglas LePanDouglas LePanDouglas Valentine LePan, OC, FRSC was a Canadian diplomat, poet, novelist and professor of literature.Born in Toronto, Ontario, LePan was educated at the University of Toronto, at Harvard , and at Merton College, Oxford University...
, The Net and the Sword - 19541954 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1954 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the eighteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Igor Gouzenko, The Fall of a Titan....
: P.K. Page, The Metal and the Flower - 19551955 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1955 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the nineteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:...
: Wilfred WatsonWilfred WatsonWilfred Watson was professor emeritus of English at Canada's University of Alberta for many years. He was also an experimental Canadian poet and dramatist, whose innovative plays had a considerable influence in the 1960s...
, Friday's Child - 19561956 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1956 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the twentieth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:*Fiction: Adele Wiseman, The Sacrifice....
: Robert A.D. Ford, A Window on the North - 19571957 Governor General's AwardsThe 1957 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the twenty-first such awards in Canada. The awards in this period an honour for the authors but had no monetary prize.-Winners:*Fiction: Gabrielle Roy, Street of Riches....
: Jay MacphersonJay MacphersonJean Jay Macpherson is a Canadian lyric poet and scholar. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "a member of 'the mythopoeic school of poetry,' who expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in symbolic verse that was often lyrical or comic."-Life:Jay Macpherson was born in London,...
, The Boatman - 19581958 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1958 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the twenty-second such awards. The awards in this period were an honour for the authors but had no monetary prize.-Winners:*Fiction: Colin McDougall, Execution....
: James ReaneyJames ReaneyJames Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...
, A Suit of Nettles - 19591959 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1959 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit saw a major change from previous awards. Instead of five categories in English the awards were now presented in two categories in English and two in French...
: Irving LaytonIrving LaytonIrving Peter Layton, OC was a Romanian-born Canadian poet. He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following but also made enemies. As T...
, Red Carpet for the Sun
1960s
- 19601960 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1960 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:Fiction: Brian Moore, The Luck of Ginger Coffey...
: Margaret AvisonMargaret AvisonMargaret Avison, OC was a Canadian poet who twice won Canada's Governor General's Award and has also won its Griffin Poetry Prize. "Her work has often been praised for the beauty of its language and images."-Life:...
, Winter Sun - 19611961 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1961 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:Fiction: Malcolm Lowry, Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place...
: Robert FinchRobert Finch (poet)Robert Duer Claydon Finch was a Canadian poet and academic. He twice won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, for his poetry.-Life:...
, Acis in Oxford - 19621962 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1962 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Kildare Dobbs, Running to Paradise....
: James ReaneyJames ReaneyJames Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...
, Twelve Letters to a Small Town and The Killdeer and Other Plays - 19631963 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1963 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Hugh Garner, Hugh Garner's Best Stories.*Non fiction: J.M.S...
: (none) - 19641964 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1964 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Douglas LePan, The Deserter....
: Raymond SousterRaymond SousterRaymond Holmes Souster, OC is a Canadian poet whose writing career spans almost 70 years. He has published more than 50 volumes of his own verse, and edited or co-edited a dozen volumes of others' poetry...
, The Colour of the Times - 19651965 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1965 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Poetry or Drama: Al Purdy, The Cariboo Horses....
: Al PurdyAl PurdyAlfred Wellington Purdy, OC, O.Ont was one of the most popular and important Canadian poets of the 20th century. Purdy's writing career spanned more than fifty years. His works include over thirty books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four books of correspondence...
, The Cariboo Horses - 19661966 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1966 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Margaret Laurence, A Jest of God ....
: Margaret AtwoodMargaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, The Circle Game - 19671967 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1967 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Poetry or Drama: Alden Nowlan, Bread, Wine and Salt....
: Alden NowlanAlden NowlanAlden Albert Nowlan was a critically acclaimed Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright-History:Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, along a stretch of dirt road that he would later refer to...
, Bread, Wine and Salt and Eli MandelEli MandelEli Mandel was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic.-Biography:...
, An Idiot Joy - 19681968 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1968 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts...
: Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Selected Poems 1956–68 - 19691969 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1969 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:Fiction: Robert Kroetsch, The Studhorse Man...
: George BoweringGeorge BoweringGeorge Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....
, Rocky Mountain Foot and The Gangs of Kosmos and Gwendolyn MacEwenGwendolyn MacEwenGwendolyn Margaret MacEwen was a Canadian poet and novelist. A "sophisticated, wide-ranging and thoughtful writer," she published more than 20 books in her brief life. "A sense of magic and mystery from her own interests in the Gnostics, Ancient Egypt and magic itself, and from her wonderment at...
, The Shadow-Maker
1970s
- 19701970 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1970 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Dave Godfrey, The New Ancestors....
: Michael OndaatjeMichael OndaatjePhilip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid and bpNicholBpNicholBarrie Phillip Nichol , who often went by his lower-case initials and last name, with no spaces , was a Canadian poet. He became widely known for his concrete poetry while living there in the 1960s...
, The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid - 19711971 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1971 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Mordecai Richler, St...
: John GlasscoJohn GlasscoJohn Glassco was a Canadian poet, memoirist and novelist. "Glassco will be remembered for his brilliant autobiography, his elegant, classical poems, and for his translations." He is also remembered by some for his pornography.-Life:Born in Montreal to a well-off merchant family, John Glassco was...
, Selected Poems - 19721972 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1972 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Robertson Davies, The Manticore...
: John NewloveJohn NewloveJohn Newlove was a Canadian poet who was considered to be one of the dominant voices of prairie poetry, though he lived most of his adult life in British Columbia and Ontario.-Life:...
, Lies and Dennis LeeDennis Lee (author)Dennis Beynon Lee, OC, MA is a Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto, Ontario. He is also a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes, Alligator Pie.-Life:...
, Civil Elegies and Other Poems - 19731973 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1973 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Rudy Wiebe, The Temptations of Big Bear....
: Miriam MandelMiriam MandelMiriam Mandel was a Canadian poet who won Canada's Governor General's Award.-Life:Miriam Mandel was born in Rockglen, Saskatchewan....
, Lions at her Face - 19741974 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1974 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Margaret Laurence, The Diviners....
: Ralph GustafsonRalph GustafsonRalph Barker Gustafson, CM was a Canadian poet and professor at Bishop's University.- Biography :He was born in Lime Ridge, near Dudswell, Quebec on August 16, 1909. His mother was British, his father Swedish. He was educated at Bishop's University, earning a B.A...
, Fire on Stone - 19751975 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1975 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Brian Moore, The Great Victorian Collection....
: Milton AcornMilton AcornMilton James Rhode Acorn , nicknamed The People's Poet by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island....
, The Island Means Minago - 19761976 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1976 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Marian Engel, Bear.*Poetry or Drama: Joe Rosenblatt, Top Soil....
: Joe RosenblattJoe RosenblattJoseph Rosenblatt is a Canadian poet who lives in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. He has won Canada's Governor-General's Award and British Columbia's B.C. Book Prize for poetry...
, Top Soil - 19771977 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1977 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Timothy Findley, The Wars.*Poetry or Drama: D.G...
: D.G. Jones, Under the Thunder the Flowers Light Up the Earth - 19781978 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1978 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Alice Munro, Who Do You Think You Are?...
: Patrick LanePatrick LanePatrick Lane is an award-winning Canadian poet. He has written in several other genres, including essays, short stories, and is the author of the novel Red Dog, Red Dog.-Biography:...
, Poems New and Selected - 19791979 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1979 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The 1979 awards were the first in which a list of finalists was released a month before the presentation of the awards...
: Michael OndaatjeMichael OndaatjePhilip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do
1980s
- 19801980 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1980 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-Fiction:Winner:*George Bowering, Burning WaterOther Finalists:...
: Stephen ScobieStephen ScobieStephen Scobie is a Canadian poet, critic, and scholar.Born in Carnoustie, Scotland, Scobie relocated to Canada in 1965...
, McAlmon's Chinese Opera