2015 Giller Prize

[HomeInMyShoes]

The Giller Prize Gala is tonight.

For those not familiar, the ScottiaBank Giller Prize is one of the, if not most, prestigious literary prizes in Canada. It's an interesting collection of books this year with two collections of short stories in the mix.

The books:

• Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
• Arvida by Samuel Archibald
• Outline by Rachel Cusk
• Daydreams of Angels by Heather O'Neill
• Martin John by Anakana Schofield

Here is the longlist at The Giller WebSite which shows all the nominees and not just the finalists they will pick from tonight.

[DiapDealer]

I'll have to look into the nominees. The Giller long/short list has provided me with very enjoyable, quirky titles in the past, so I always try to peruse the finalists -- if I can remember it.

[CRussel]

And this year, the Gala is being hosted by Rick Mercer, which should make it more than worth the watch, if you are where you can get it.

[AnemicOak]

And the winner is André Alexis for his novel Fifteen Dogs, published by Coach House Books.

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2015winner/

The shortlist and ultimate winner were selected by the esteemed five-member jury panel made up of Irish author John Boyne (Jury Chair), Canadian writers Cecil Foster, Alexander MacLeod and Alison Pick, and British author Helen Oyeyemi.

Of the winning book, the jury wrote:

“What does it mean to be alive? To think, to feel, to love and to envy? André Alexis explores all of this and more in the extraordinary Fifteen Dogs, an insightful and philosophical meditation on the nature of consciousness. It’s a novel filled with balancing acts: humour juxtaposed with savagery, solitude with the desperate need to be part of a pack, perceptive prose interspersed with playful poetry. A wonderful and original piece of writing that challenges the reader to examine their own existence and recall the age old question, what’s the meaning of life?”