2010 Giller Prize Longlist Revealed

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is Canada's most prestigious literary prize. Past winners include Rohinton Mistry, Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler, Michael Ondaatje and M.G. Vassanji. The longlist for the 2010 prize was announced this morning. Here are the nominees:

David Bergen - The Matter With Morris
Douglas Coupland - Player One
Michael Helm - Cities of Refuge
Alexander MacLeod - Light Lifting
Avner Mandelman - The Debba
Tom Rachman - The Imperfectionists
Johanna Skibsrud - The Sentimentalists
Cordelia Strube - Lemon
Joan Thomas - Curiosity
Jane Urquhart - Sanctuary Line
Dianne Warren - Cool Water
Kathleen Winter - Annabel

David Bergen is the only past winner on the list. Douglas Coupland, Jane Urquhart and Michael Helm have been nominated in the past.

While I'm yet to read any of the books (thought I've had a hold on a bunch at the library) from what I have been hearing Kathleen Winter, Jane Urquhart, Michael Helm and David Bergen are very deserving of the nods. I am surprised to see that Camilla Gibb's newest book was left off, I know there were mixed reviews but there had been some buzz about it in the past few weeks. This list seems to be very Canadian though - diverse. I think the biggest surprise this year will be that Emma Donoghue's Room was left off the longlist. I'm interested in hearing the reasoning behind that.

The shortlist will be announced on October 5 and the winner will be announced in November.

What are your thoughts on the longlist? Have you read any of these books?

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 20, 2010 at 10:58 PM

    Hi Shan, thanks for visiting today. Going to the hair show did bring me back. You are right the neighbourhood has a lot of great things about it. I look back at my grade 2 class photo and it seems that all the countries of the world are represented. How great of you to open up your mind to learn how to comb your daughter's hair and respect her heritage. Nice meeting you today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackie (Farm Lane Books)September 22, 2010 at 12:22 PM

    I'm a big fan of the Giller prize, but had only heard of The Imperfectionists and Player One before. I look forward to reading all the reviews of these books.

    ReplyDelete

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