May 08, 2021
The list of finalists for the prestigious Governor General's Literary Awards is finally out. 70 books have been chosen as the best to have been published in Canada in 2020, and only 14 will receive the award. Ottawa Public Library readers are in luck—they can check out almost all of the finalists from our collection. Read on for the English-language finalists, and visit our French blog post to see the French-language finalists. You can make a reservation by clicking on the title of the book you’d like to check out.
Fiction
- Butter Honey Pig Bread – Francesca Ekwuyasi
- Five Little Indians – Michelle Good (winner)
- Indians on Vacation – Thomas King
- Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies – Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
- The Baudelaire Fractal – Lisa Robertson
Poetry
- Eight Track – Oana Avasilichioaei
- Norma Jeane Baker of Troy – Anne Carson (winner)
- Orrery – Donna Kane
- Render – Sachiko Murakami
- The Dyzgraphxst – Canisia Lubrin
Drama
- bug – Yolanda Bonnell
- Guarded Girls – Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman
- Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story – Kim Senklip Harvey (winner)
- Quick Bright Things – Christopher Cook
- Sound of the Beast – Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Non-fiction
- A History of My Brief Body – Billy-Ray Belcourt
- Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space – Amanda Leduc
- Rebent Sinner – Ivan Coyote
- Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging – Tessa McWatt
- This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart: A Memoir in Halves – Madhur Anand (winner)
Young People’s Literature – Text
- Harvey Holds His Own – Colleen Nelson
- Nevers – Sara Cassidy
- Pine Island Home – Polly Horvath
- The Barren Grounds – David A. Robertson
- The King of Jam Sandwiches – Eric Walters (winner)
Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
- I Talk Like a River – Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith
- Our Little Kitchen – Jillian Tamaki
- Swift Fox All Along – Rebecca Thomas and Maya McKibbin
- The Barnabus Project – The Fan Brothers (winner)
- Weekend Dad – Naseem Hrab and Frank Viva
Translation (from French to English)
- Amaryllis & Little Witch – Translated by Alexis Diamond; translation of Vipérine et Petite sorcière by Pascal Brullemans
- Back Roads – Translated by J.C. Sutcliffe; translation of Routes secondaires by Andrée A. Michaud
- If You Hear Me – Translated by Lazer Lederhendler; translation of Si tu m’entends by Pascale Quiviger (winner)
- The Country Will Bring Us No Peace – Translated by Pablo Strauss; translation of Ici, ailleurs by Matthieu Simard
- The Neptune Room – Translated by Oana Avasilichioaei; translation of La chambre Neptune by Bertrand Laverdure