FOUR CANUCK WINNERS

While Canadians have been shortlisted plenty, we’ve only won the Booker Prize four times, with some instances more controversial than others. Some beg the question: What makes a real Canadian winner?

MICHAEL ONDAATJE, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, 1992 In the year Canada first made the Booker Prize final, Michael Ondaatje was one of two authors sharing the then-$40,000 award: the other finalist was British author Barry Unsworth for his book Sacred Hunger. At the time, the win was lauded for giving a stamp of approval to Canadian writers or, as Robertson Davies then told the Star, that such awards are meaningful “to people who have to have that kind of reassurance about Canadian literature.”

MARGARET ATWOOD, THE BLIND ASSASSIN, 2000 When Margaret Atwood won in 2000, the prize was worth about $47,000 according to reports at the time — and she donated all of the money to “a couple of unnamed agencies for endangered species,” the Star reported. She didn’t consider it charity, she said “it’s just a finger in the dike.” She had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three previous times: in 1986, 1989 and 1996.

YANN MARTEL, LIFE OF PI, 2002 Canada was beside itself in 2002 when three of its authors made the six-person shortlist for the Booker Prize, then worth about $77,000 — a feat the Star headlined at the time as “a national triumph”: Yann Martel for Life of Pi, Carol Shields for Unless and Rohinton Mistry for Family Matters. Interestingly, the Star reported, not one was born in Canada. (Shields was born in the U.S., Mistry in India and Martel in Spain.)

ELEANOR CATTON, THE LUMINARIES, 2013 There is some controversy over Eleanor Catton being included in this list — she was born in Canada in 1985, but grew up in New Zealand, where she continues to live. Still, in addition to winning the $80,000 award, she went on to win the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize (it’s only open to Canadians) for the same book and was also a contender for the Governor General’s Literary Award.