From the Press Release:
Ottawa, October 16, 2006 — The Canada Council for the Arts announced today the names of the finalists for the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards, in English and in French, in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation.

A total of 68 books have been nominated for this year’s awards; 36 of the shortlisted writers, translators and illustrators are finalists for the first time.

The Canada Council for the Arts funds, administers and promotes the Governor General’s Literary Awards, worth $15,000 each. The publisher of each winning book will receive $3,000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists will each receive $1,000 in recognition of their selection as finalists, bringing the total value of the awards to more than $300,000.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. at simultaneous news conferences in Toronto and Montreal.

Nominees for Fiction (English)

The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens

The Fearsome Particles by Trevor Cole

Gargoyles by Bill Gaston

The Dodecahedron, or A Frame for Frames by Paul Glennon

DeNiro’s Game by Rawi Hage

I’ve only read one of this year’s nominees – The Dodecahedron – (an all-time low for me!) but it was fantastic. I reviewed this at the beginning of July and highly recommend it. Overall, it looks like a fantastic group of nominees – more titles to add to my must-read list.

tags: books Canadian fiction 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards Paul Glennon Peter Behrens Trevor Cole Bill Gaston Rawi Hage