Calgary Herald

Women the big winners

Huyghebaer­t, Thomas earn top prizes

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Winnipeg author Joan Thomas has won the Governor General’s Literary Award for English-language fiction for her novel Five Wives. Montreal author Céline Huyghebaer­t is the winner in French-language fiction for her novel Le drap blanc.

They are two of 15 winners the Canada Council for the Arts announced in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Judges chose winners in seven categories each in both English and French. Two authors shared the award this year in one category in French, for illustrate­d literature for young people. The seven categories in each language are fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction, young people’s literature (text), young people’s literature (illustrate­d) and translatio­n. Of the 15 winners this year, 13 are women.

“I am delighted by the fact that so many writers, illustrato­rs and translator­s who are women have distinguis­hed themselves through their excellent work this year,” said Simon Brault director and chief executive of the arts council. “Never in the history of these awards have we had so many women as winners. I salute their talent and their significan­t thought-provoking contributi­ons.”

Founded in 1936, the awards are one of Canada’s oldest and most prestigiou­s literary award programs, with a total annual prize value of $450,000.

Category-specific, language-based peer assessment committees select the finalists. For the 2019 long list, the judges considered eligible books published between Sept. 1, 2018 and Sept. 30, 2019 for English-language entries and between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 for French-language entries. Each winner will receive $25,000, with the publisher receiving and additional $3,000 to promote the winning book. Finalists receive $1,000 each.

Gov. Gen. Julie Payette will host an awards ceremony on Dec. 12 at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. For details, see Ggbooks.ca.

 ??  ?? Joan Thomas
Joan Thomas

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