The 2008 finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, Canada’s top prize for literature, were announced on Tuesday.
Seventy-three authors are vying for awards in seven categories, including fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature, and translation. Both English and French titles are eligible to win the $25,000 prize.
The current frontrunner in the fiction category is Rawi Hage, also nominated for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize and Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Cockroach is narrated by a struggling immigrant in Montréal who must come to terms with the privileged lives of his neighbours. Other high-profile nominees include Nino Ricci, author of Origin of the Species, and Rivka Galchen, selected for Atmospheric Disturbances.
In the non-fiction category, James Orbinski has been generating serious buzz with his book An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the 21st Century. Orbinski, the founder of Doctors Without Borders/Médécins Sans Frontières, offers his perspective on the effectiveness of aid workers and non-profit organizations in politically unstable countries.
Toronto-based author Mariko Tamaki received a nod in the children’s literature category for her graphic novel Skim. Centered on a private-school outsider, this book has been well received by those long past their high school years.
This year’s jury includes novelist Jane Urquhart and Toronto’s Poet Laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco. The winners will be announced November 18.
