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Excellence in Canadian Literature
The Canada Council for the Arts and the Governor General of Canada cooperate each year to celebrate Canadian writers with the Governor General’s Literary Awards (The GG’s). Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean on November 26th presented the 2009 in a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

The awards represent seven genres of literature: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Non-fiction, Children’s Literature – Text, Children’s Literature – Illustration and Translation. Every award is presented in both English and French and each winner receives $25,000.

Winners of the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Awards

Fiction - English
Kate Pullinger for The Mistress of Nothing

Fiction – French
Julie Mazzieri for Le discours sur la tombe de l’idiot

Poetry –English
David Zieroth for The Fly in Autumn

Poetry – French
Hélène Monette for Thérèse pour joie et orchestre

Drama – English
Kevin Loring for Where the Blood Mixes

Drama – French
Suzanne Lebeau for Les bruit des os qui craquent

Non-fiction – English
M.G. Vassanji for A Place Within: Rediscovering India

Non-fiction – French
Nicole V. Champeau for Pointe Maligne: l’infiniment oubliée

Children’s Literature – Text - English
Caroline Pignat for Greener Grass: The Famine Years

Children’s Literature – Text – French
Hervé Bouchard for Harvey

Children’s Literature – Illustration - English
Jirina Marton for Bella’s Tree, text by Janet Russell

Children’s Literature – Illustration – French
Janice Nadeau for Harvey, text by Hervé Bouchard

Translation – English
Susan Ouriou for Pieces of Me (English translation of La liberté? Connais pas . . . by Charlotte Gingras)

Translation – French
Paule Noyart for Le miel d’Harar (French translation of Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb)

Learn more about these award-winning titles and authors.

The GG’s were first bestowed upon books published in 1936, under the governance of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir of Elsfield. Lord Tweedsmuir was an author himself, having written The Thirty-Nine Steps under the pseudonym John Buchan. No monetary prize was given until 1951, when a grant of $250 began.

The awards were initially supported by the Canadian Authors Association, with responsibility passing to the Canada Council for the Arts in 1959. The Council manages all administration and funding for the awards and added the French categories when it assumed its leadership role.