Canada's most lucrative literary prize for fiction is getting a little bit richer for its 15th anniversary, with two internationally renowned authors also slated to judge the upcoming edition.

Scotiabank Giller Prize organizers announced Tuesday that the purse for the annual fiction-writing honour would increase to $70,000 — $50,000 for the winner and $5,000 to each of the four other finalists.

Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch, who founded the prize, also announced the jury for the 2008 edition:

• Internationally acclaimed author Margaret Atwood, who won a Giller in 1996 for her novel Alias Grace.
• Irish author and IMPAC Dublin Literary Award-winner Colm Toibin.
• Liberal MP, former Ontario premier and arts promoter Bob Rae.

The three jurors will have the spring and summer to read all the submissions and are scheduled to announce a long list of contenders for the prestigious literary prize in September.

A short list of finalists will follow in early October, with each selection to be celebrated at a black-tie gala in Toronto on Nov. 11 — where the winner will also be announced.

Rabinovitch founded the Giller Prize in 1994 to honour the memory of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. In 2005, Scotiabank began to sponsor the award and boosted the prize amount from Rabinovitch's initial $25,000.

Aside from Atwood, past winners of the prize include distinguished Canadian authors such as Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, Mordecai Richler, M.G. Vassanji, Rohinton Mistry, Bonnie Burnard and Austin Clarke.