Giller long list honours an eclectic range
Award finalists include a diversity of voices, styles, authors and publishers
“I wish I could be with all of you right now in person somehow,” first-time Giller nominee Casey Plett said during an email exchange after the long list for the Scotiabank Giller Prize was announced by livestream Wednesday.
Still, the virtual excitement was contagious as Toronto writer Souvankham Thammavongsa, who won last year’s Giller, announced the 12 nominees, whittled down from the 132 “works of literature” the jury read.
“This extraordinary dozen showcases an ecstatic diversity of voices and styles of narrative deployment and moral urgency, of formal innovation and old-fashioned storytelling pleasure,” the jury — Canadian writers Zalika Reid-Benta, Megan Gail Coles and Joshua Whitehead, writer Tash Aw of Taiwan and American writer Joshua Ferris — said in a statement.
Or, as Plett put it: “It’s such humbling and beautiful company to be a part of, I’m extraordinarily grateful.”
Plett was one of 10 women who dominate the list, including powerhouse writers Miriam Toews and Kim Thuy, with Omar El Akkad and Jordan Tannahill the only two men.
Otherwise, the books and authors were a combination of debut, mid-career and veteran writers, short stories and novels, indie publishers and the big guys. They are:
“The Listeners” by Jordan Tannahill (HarperCollins)
Ottawa-born Tannahill’s second novel, based on the real-life phenomenon dubbed “the Hum,” is described by the Star’s reviewer as “enigmatic and provocative.” “‘The Listeners’ is apt to stretch and warp its readers’ own perspectives, as a funhouse mirror for our times.” His first novel, “Liminal,” won Canadian and international prizes. This is Tannahill’s first appearance on a Giller list.
“Astra” by Cedar Bowers (McClelland & Stewart)
The Star’s reviewer called B.C. writer Bowers’ debut novel “a feat of character-building” thanks in part to an innovative structure, with 10 different characters each giving their take on Astra.
“First Night” by Miriam Toews (Knopf )
Winnipeg and Toronto writer Toews has been on the Giller long list twice before: as a finalist for her 2014 novel “All My Puny Sorrows” and for “A Complicated Kindness,” published in 2004. This newest book is a return to themes of family, drawing on her own rich experience, about which she told the Star, “I wanted to write something that would not shy away from the dark part of a person’s life … and I wanted to write about this idea of fighting and the idea that joy is resistance.”
“A Dream of a Woman” by Casey Plett (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Founder of the feminist LittlePuss Press, Winnipeg-born writer Plett’s collection, set to come out Sept. 21, is described in the Star as “new, tender, beautifully written stories … about trans women making lives for themselves.” Her book “Little Fish” won the 2019 Lambda prize for transgender fiction. This is Plett’s first Giller nod.
“Em” by Kim Thuy (Random House Canada)
The Montreal author has been nominated for Gillers twice, in 2012 for “Ru” and 2018 for “Vi,” both translated from the French by legendary translator Sheila Fischman, as was this
one. “Em,” not yet out (it publishes Sept. 28), is set against the background of the Vietnam War.
“The Strangers” by Katherena Vermette (Hamish Hamilton)
Vermette, a Red River Métis writer born in Winnipeg, won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award for her debut, “The Break.” “The Strangers,” which comes out Sept. 28, is billed by her publisher as a family saga, as was “The Break,” with a story that centres on the women in the Stranger family, “fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail.”
“What Stranger Paradise” by Omar El Akkad (McClelland & Stewart)
El Akkad’s second novel delves into the experience of refugees.
Our reviewer said it “succeeds at what one senses might be El Akkad’s goal — to deepen our engagement with the world around us and with others’ stories.” This is the first Giller nod for the Egyptian-born writer, who moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States.
“The Son of the House” by Cheluchi OnyemelukweOnuobia (Dundurn Press)
This debut novel is an exploration of class and inequality, in a story told by two very different Nigerian women who are kidnapped and held captive; their stories unfold as they await their fate. Lawyer Onyemelukwe-Onuobia divides her time between Lagos and Halifax, where she works in health, gender, and violence against women and children. “The Son of the House” won the Best International
Fiction Book Award at the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2019.
“Glorious Frazzled Beings” by Angélique Lalonde (House of Anansi)
Another debut collection of short stories; Lalonde, who lives in Gitxsan territory, won the 2019 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, which recognizes the best short story by an emerging writer, for “Pooka,” which you will find in this book.
“The Octopus Has Three Hearts” by Rachel Rose (Douglas & McIntyre)
Veteran B.C. writer Rose has been nominated for and won many awards for her poetry; this volume of short stories, “about damaged people who have committed, witnessed or survived terrible acts, and who must make their way in an unforgiving world,” according to her publisher, is her debut book of fiction.
“Swimming Back to Trout River” by Linda Rui Feng (Simon & Schuster)
Rui Feng was born in Shanghai and now lives in Toronto; her debut novel is set against the backdrop of China’s cultural revolution and follows a father’s quest to reunite his family.
“We, Jane” by Aimee Wall, (Book*hug)
This is Wall’s debut novel, although the Newfoundland native who now lives in Montreal has published numerous essays, short stories and criticism, and translated novels. Her publishers says “We, Jane” “probes the importance of care work by women for women … and beautifully captures the inevitable heartache of understanding home.”
The Giller prize short list will be announced on Oct. 5, with the winner announced on CBC on Monday, Nov. 8, at 9 p.m.