The Scotiabank Giller Prize Presents its 2016 Longlist

September 7, 2016

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is pleased to announce its longlist for the 2016 Prize. The twelve titles were chosen from a field of 161 books submitted by 69 publisher imprints from every region of the country.

The longlist for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

  • Mona Awad for her novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, published by Penguin Canada
  • Gary Barwin for his novel Yiddish for Pirates, published by Random House Canada
  • Andrew Battershill for his novel Pillow, published by Coach House Books
  • David Bergen for his novel Stranger, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
  • Emma Donoghue for her novel The Wonder, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
  • Catherine Leroux for her novel The Party Wall, published by Biblioasis International Translation Series, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
  • Kathy Page for her story collection The Two of Us, published by A John Metcalf Book, an imprint of Biblioasis
  • Susan Perly for her novel Death Valley, published by Buckrider Books, an imprint of Wolsak and Wynn Publishers
  • Kerry Lee Powell for her story collection Willem De Kooning's Paintbrush, published by HarperAvenue, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
  • Steven Price for his novel By Gaslight, published by McClelland & Stewart
  • Madeleine Thien for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
  • Zoe Whittall for her novel The Best Kind of People, published by House of Anansi Press Inc.

The longlist was selected by an esteemed five-member jury panel: Canadian writers Lawrence Hill (Jury Chair), Jeet Heer and Kathleen Winter, along with British author Samantha Harvey and Scottish writer Alan Warner.

Of the longlist, the jury wrote:

"The quality and depth of Canadian fiction made it challenging to select the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Many more stories and novels deserve a place on the list. As jurors, we salute all one hundred and sixty one writers whose books were brought to our attention. We selected works that reflect the boldness, originality and global perspectives that have come to characterize much Canadian writing. The books span a range of narrative styles - some playfully verbose and others quietly powerful. The books explore various obsessions: genocide in 20th century China and in medieval Spain; the neglect, abuse or theft of children in Ireland, North America and Guatemala; the dangers of nuclear testing; the unapologetic pursuit of crime and criminals; and the surprising ways that table manners, travel, body shape, illness, violence and love influence self-esteem and intimate relationships. We, the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize jurors, encourage book lovers to discover the works that moved us, and to keep reading Canadian literature widely."

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is delighted to present a series of special readings featuring this year's shortlisted authors, taking place in Halifax on October 14, Vancouver on October 17, and Toronto on November 6. Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists will take you inside the minds and creative lives of the writers on the 2016 shortlist. For venue and ticket information, please visit: www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/news-events/events-and-important-dates/

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize will air on CBC and streamed at CBCBooks.ca on Monday, November 7 at 9 p.m. (10 AT/10:30 NT)

About the Prize

The Scotiabank Giller Prize strives to highlight the very best in Canadian fiction year after year. The prize awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $10,000 to each of the finalists. 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. Visit us at www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca

About Scotiabank

Through our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $907 billion (as at July 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada's trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

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Media Inquiries

Elana Rabinovitch, Scotiabank Giller Prize
elana@scotiabankgillerprize.ca
T - 416 275 5418

Kristin McCleister, Public, Corporate and Government Affairs, Scotiabank
Kristin.mccleister@scotiabank.com
T - 416 933 0646

Download the press release in PDF format here.

Note: As of press time, all book links were functional. In the event that they are not working properly, please contact the publisher.