Five vie for prestigious Giller award

Article by Terry Weber, Globe and Mail
October 3, 2006

ive authors will compete for one of Canada's most prestigious – and potentially lucrative – literary awards.

During a ceremony in Toronto on Tuesday, writers Rawi Hage, Vincent Lam, Pascale Quiviger, Gaétan Soucy and Carol Windley were short listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, to be handed out Nov. 7.

Mr. Hage is nominated for his novel De Niro's Game, while Mr. Lam was cited for his collection of short stories Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures and Ms. Quiviger received a nod for her novel, The Perfect Circle. Mr. Soucy was recognized for his novel, The Immaculate Collection, and Ms. Windley received a nomination for her short-story collection, Home Schooling.

For the first time this year, the five finalists were taken from a long-list of 15 authors. The award is named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994 by her husband, Toronto businessman, Jack Rabinovitch

The jury for this year's award consists of former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson and authors Alice Munro – who won in 2004 for her book Runaway – and Michael Winter.

The Giller's top prize carries a $40,000 cash award. Each of the other finalists receives $2,500.

© The Globe and Mail 2006