Governor Generals Awards

In 2016, Canadian literature celebrated an important milestone: the Governor General’s Literary Awards turned 80 years old. Lori Knoll, head of the prize, in an interview for Publishing Perspectives, says that “it’s not such an easy task to comment on Canadian literature without using the GG Prize as a reference.”

She also adds that “there’s been an increased interest in and recognition for works by and about indigenous peoples. Also, there’s the GG Prize’s recognition for young creators…There’s also been an increase in the number of Canadian works in translation both in English-to-French and French-to-English.”

Finally, she elaborated on the Governor General’s awards. “Founded in 1939, the Governor General’s Literary Awards have a total value of $450,000. The Canada Council for the Arts has funded, administered, and promoted the awards since 1959…Our GG Prize winners are chosen by peer assessment committees per category, per language-seven in English and seven in French.”

Source: “Governor General’s Awards: 80 Years of Canadian Literature”, Carla Douglas, Publishing Perspective, Spring 2017, p.12