Words At Large

Ondaatje ties an all-time record at this year's Governor General's Awards

Posted by Words At Large Admin on November 27 at 01:30 PM

Michael Ondaatje(Photo: Jeff Nolte) Nine of this year's winners are receiving Governor General's Literary Awards for the first time. For Michael Ondaatje, winner of the 2007 award in English-language fiction for Divisadero, this is his fifth award, tying the record set by the late Hugh MacLennan for the most Governor General's Awards in the prize's history.

Each winning author receives twenty-five thousand dollars with publishers of those books receiving a small reward of their own.

Over the past few weeks we've highlighted nominees from many of the GG categories. You can check out those podcasts under Recent Stories on the right hand side of the page.

But today we celebrate some of the winners.

Don DomanskiBarb Carey, our poetry contributor, put her money on Don Domanski for the poetry GG (check out last week's podcast - GG Talent) and she was right! The Halifax poet was nominated twice before for this award in 1991 for Wolf Ladder and in 1994 for Stations of the Left Hand. He won this year for All Our Wonder Unavenged published by Brick Books.

Toronto playwright Colleen Murphy won in the English language drama category for The December Man published by Playwrights Canada Press.

B.C. author Iain Lawrence won in the Children's Literature category for his book Gemini Summer published by Delacorte Press.

In the non-fiction category Toronto archaeologist and writer Karolyn Smardz Frost took the award for her book I've Got A Home In Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad. It's published by Thomas Allen.

Our Words At Large podcast this week has interviews and discussions about the fiction and non-fiction categories.

For more information about all of this year's winners go to the Canada Council website.

Comments

Can't you people get over this man's name and quit handing over the GG award to a mediocre writer? There are better writers out there. Stop feeling obligated to recognize a native writer. The concept is getting old.

Posted by: Tae Nui | December 2, 2007 04:59 PM

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