Do you follow any particular book awards? Do you ever choose books based on awards? What award-winning books do you have? (Off the top of your head only- no need to look this up- it would take all day!) What's your favourite award-winning book?
In the past book awards were much like the Emmy's or the Oscar's for me: interesting to hear about, but not a big deal if I missed out. Within the last few years, however, I have started paying more attention thanks to my bookish mother-on-law. She always has some interesting little tidbits to share about books, nominations, awards her thoughts on what should/shouldn't have won. She is the one who introduced me to the fabulous CanadaReads also, which is kinda like an awards event.
Being Canadian and just coming to see how under-promoted Canadian authors and books seem to be, most of the book awards I follow are from Canada. I like the idea of supporting my country by being supportive of our artists. Many people think Canadians have snow year-round, drive snowmobiles instead of cars, eat moose meat daily and have no culture aside from hockey (I'm totally serious, I have actually heard people say these things) I could care less about these misconceptions - except - I am proud of the amazing writers that have come from or come to Canada. Our literary culture is a strong, thriving community of artists that deserve the recognition of the world.
Sooo, now that I've ranted a bit (it's too late or ummm maybe too early for me to be blogging) here are some of the awards that I follow, with a short description and examples of past winners.
CanadaReads
Canada Reads is a radio show hosted by CBC Radio. In this annual literary bun-fight, five celebrity panelists are asked to defend their favourite Canadian fiction. Day by day, books are voted off the list, until one panelist triumphs with the book for Canada to read this year.
Winner 2008 - King Leary by Paul Quarrington
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
This prize was first awarded in 1997 and is sponsored by Rogers in collaboration with the Writers' Development Trust. The prize goes to the author of the novel or collection judged to be the year's best work of fiction.
Winner 2004 - Alice Munro - Runaway
Governor General's Award for Fiction
Canada's foremost literary prize is administered by the Canada Council and began in 1937. The jury reviews all books published by Canadian authors in Canada or abroad during the previous year. The winner receives a medal, $10,000 and a specially bound copy of his/her award-winning book.
Winner 2007 - Michael Ondaatje - Divisadero
ScotiaBank Giller Prize
The Giller prize was founded in 1994 by Montreal businessman Jack Rabinovich as a tribute to his late wife, Doris Giller. The prize goes to the best Canadian novel or collection published in English. Beginning in 2005, the award was co-sponsored by Scotiabank and renamed the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Winner 2007 - Elizabeth Hay - Late Nights on Air
Man Booker Prize
A literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of either the Commonwealth of Nations or the Republic of Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be nominated for the Booker longlist or selected for inclusion in the shortlist. A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize.
Winner 2002 - Yann Martel - Life Of Pi
© 2008-2010 Joanne Mosher of The Book Zombie. All rights reserved.
11 comments:
Nice! this is exactly what I thought it would be fun for us to share. thanks!
Wow - impressive! I like Alice Monroe a lot and of course Margaret Atwood.
Great post. I recently read a Governor General's Award winning book for non-fiction and enjoyed it.
Very nicely done! Yes, probably all American readers need to learn more about Canadian lit - beyond Margaret Atwood and Lucy Maud Montgomery.
What a fantastic list! I'm going to have to bookmark this page.
I agree Canada has fantastic authors. I have been a fan of the Man Booker awards for a while. Your last Weekly Geeks post introduced me to Canada Reads. I love this post, it is full of great information.
I think it's nice to support authors that are from your country! And awards are a great way to learn about them.
Excellent post!
That's one of the sad things about Canada, we do tend to under promote our own talent unless we are forced too. (CRTC and music)
Thanks for the links, I'll check them out!
~ Popin
"Many people think Canadians have snow year-round, drive snowmobiles instead of cars, eat moose meat daily and have no culture aside from hockey..."
When I was reading this, I was thinking "Are you serious?" You answered that of course. What a total shame. I shouldn't be surprised as people living in the deep southern states are stereotyped. Very sad.
Some of the books on the Canada Reads website look pretty interesting. More for my TBR list!
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