World Literary Awards

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Governor General's Awards

Edition 87 (2022)

English-language fictionFrench-language fictionEnglish-language non-fictionFrench-language non-fictionEnglish-language poetryFrench-language poetryEnglish-language dramaFrench-language dramaChildren's literature (English)Children's literature (French)Children's illustration (English)Children's illustration (French)Translation (English↔French)Visual and Media ArtsPerforming ArtsMedals in ArchitectureHistory AwardsInnovation AwardsAwards in Commemoration of the Persons CaseAward in Celebration of the Nation's TableAcademic Medal and other specialized awards

Winners

14 people
Sheila Heti Winner
Pure Colour

Winner of the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award in Fiction Shortlisted for the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize in Fiction Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, The Times Literary Supplement, and more Pure Colour is a galaxy of a novel: explosive, celestially bright, huge, and streaked with beauty. It is a contemporary bible, an atlas of feeling, and an absurdly funny guide to…

Winner of the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award in Fiction Shortlisted for the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize in Fiction Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, The Times Literary…

149 pages
Fictionfatherhoodpowerloveart
Shadow Blight

Shadow Blight by Annick MacAskill.

Shadow Blight by Annick MacAskill.

POETRY

A Healing Key

A Healing Key

96 pages
Drama
Eli Baxter Winner
Aki-Wayn-Zih: A Person as Worthy as the Earth

Winner- 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-Language Nonfiction Members of Eli Baxter’s generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island. They are also among the last fluent speakers of the Anishinaabay language known as Anishinaabaymowin.

Winner- 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-Language Nonfiction Members of Eli Baxter’s generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island.

161 pages
Social Sciencefamilyidentityhistorylanguage
Jen Ferguson Winner
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel about a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth. A William C.

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel about a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—an…

369 pages
Young Adult Fictionfamilyfatherhoodpowerart

A heartwarming look at love, loss, and memorable objects through the eyes of a child After her grandfather's death, a young girl wanders through his house. As she tours each room, the objects she discovers stir memories of her grandfather--her baba bozorg.

A heartwarming look at love, loss, and memorable objects through the eyes of a child After her grandfather's death, a young girl wanders through his house.

32 pages
Juvenile Fictionfatherhoodgrieflossmemory
History of the Jews in Quebec

The presence of Jews in Quebec dates back four centuries. Quebec Jewry, in Montreal in particular, has evolved over time, thanks to successive waves of migration from different regions of the world.

The presence of Jews in Quebec dates back four centuries.

397 pages
Historyhistoryartmigration
Alain Farah Winner
Mille secrets mille dangers

novel

novel

literature
Enfants du lichen

“In this collection, the voice of the poet blends into the memory of the territory, the culture, its roots, the memory of the intimate body as well as the atrophied memory of History. The first part, Children of Lichen, underlines with tenderness and a desire for healing the urgency of not turning a blind eye to the disappearances of children and women, to exclusion, dispossession and contempt.

“In this collection, the voice of the poet blends into the memory of the territory, the culture, its roots, the memory of the intimate body as well as the atrophied memory of History.

French-Canadian poetrymemoryhistoryart
David Paquet Winner
Le poids des fourmis

youth play

youth play

literature
La Voie romaine

The Roman Road by Sylveline Bourion.

The Roman Road by Sylveline Bourion.

literature
Cancer ascendant Autruche

Cancer ascendant Ostrich by Julie Champagne.

Cancer ascendant Ostrich by Julie Champagne.

literature
Trèfle

You want this and you want that, but what should you do when you can’t make a decision? ?

You want this and you want that, but what should you do when you can’t make a decision?

82 pages
Young Adult Nonfictionfamilyloveart
Partie de chasse au petit gibier entre lâches au club de tir du coin

While outside the restaurant a snowstorm rages, inside Hazel, other storms threaten. Iris must work despite herself with her lover, the boss who is as irresistible as he is toxic, and his wife, who is also the owner of the place.

While outside the restaurant a snowstorm rages, inside Hazel, other storms threaten.

293 pages
Dramapowerloveart