Course:LIBR548F/2010WT1/Canadian Literary Awards and Prizes

Canadian Literary Awards and Prizes: Introduction

Literary and library awards offer recognition of their winners for various reasons. They call attention to the literary creativity of writers of international, national or local repute. In Canada many prizes appear to have been designed to raise the profile of national literature, assert the significance of Canadian writing, while others celebrate regional or local achievements. Since 1980 the Canadian literary community has witnessed an explosion of literary awards offered for an increasing number of literary genres, by an increasingly divers number of societies, associations, and organizations.

History

Prior to the creation of the Royal Society of Canada’s Lorne Pierce Medal in 1926, English-Canadian authors seeking recognition for their talent competed on the international awards circuit. From its creation in the mid 1920s the Lorne Pierce Medal was the highest honour for English-Canadian authors, until the creation of the Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGs’) in 1936.^[1]

In French-speaking Canada the situation was slightly different. The first literary award in Quebec dates from 1809 when the Society historique de Quebec held its first literary competition. This remained the only literary award until at the insistence of Athanase David, then provincial secretary of Quebec, the Prix Duvernay was created in 1922. David created a series of other literary awards which became highly valued in Quebec, so it is only fitting that in 1968 the Prix Athanase-David (Prix David) was established to honour an author for the totality of his/her literary oeuvre. ^[2]

By 1956 the Canadian Council for the Arts had become the sponsor of the GGs’, adding categories for French language authors. From 1951 to 1958 small cash prizes was added to the GGs,’ since 1959 the monetary prize has steadily increased to $25,000.^[3] 1947 saw the creation of two important literary awards, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal awarded for excellence in Canadian humour writing, and the Library Association Book of the year for Children Award.

Created in 1958 as the Prix France-Canada (re-named in 1982 as the Prix Quebec-Paris) is jointly administered by the Association of France-Canada and the government of Quebec. It is awarded to French Canadian writers whose work has been published in either country. Similarly the Prix Canada-Swiss founded in 1980 by the Canada Council and the Swiss Pro Helvetia Foundationis alternatively awarded to a Canadian and a Swiss writer for a work published in French.

In 1963 the Molson Prize was established by the Canada Council. This highly prestigious honour is awarded to two Canadians who have distinguished themselves in the arts, the humanities or the social sciences. Between 1963 and 1982 winners received $15,000 before it was increased to $50,000 in 1983. ^[4] In 1977 the W.H. Smith Books in Canada First Novel Award was established to recognize the best first novel by a Canadian in English.

Since the 1990s, three important contributions to the Canadian Literary and Library Awards scene have been the establishment of the Giller Prize in 1994 (renamed to the Sociabank Giller Prize in 2005), the Writers Trust of Canada Awards for Fiction in 1997, and the CBC Literary Awards in 2010. Today there are numerous awards given to authors across Canada.

For some lists of awards please see the following links:

http://www.track0.com/ogwc/resources/awards.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards#Canadian_literature

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/awards.html

http://www.poets.ca/linktext/links/links7.htm

Time Line

The Scotiabank Giller Prize : A case study

Named after Doris Giller, a Montreal journalist who was a regularly contributed to the Toronto Star and Montreal Gazette. In 1981 Doris Giller created an extensive book review section for the Montreal Gazette. Doris Giller passed away in 1993, and in 1994, her husband, Jack Giller founded the prize to honour the memory of his later wife. In 2005, the Giller Prize teamed up with Sociabank to create the Scotiabank Giller Prize becoming the first co-sponsored literary award.When Scotiabank began sponsoring the Prize the monetary value increased significantly. In 2005 the prize winner received $40,000 and each of the four finalists receiving $25,000. In 2008 the monetary value increased again, with the prize winner receiving $50,000 and each of the four finalists receiving 5,000.

Each year the jury for the Scotiabank prize is made up of three individuals, from a variety of backgrounds. The 2010 jury consists of Michel Enright (Canadian broadcaster, host of CBC’s The Sunday Edition), Claire Messud (American writer and professor) and Ali Smith (UK author). The jury is responsible for determining a long list of books, and then narrow it down to four finalists and an ultimate winner.

Previous winners include:

2009 Linden MacIntry The Bishop’s Man

2008 Joseph Boyden Through Black Spruce

2007 Elizabeth Hay Late Night on Air

2006 Vincent Lam Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures

2005 David Bergen The Time in Between

Too many awards or too few awards?

A book that wins prizes wins readers. Awards given to books make people more ready to read those books, and the selling power of a book is instantly increased once it becomes a prize winner. ^[5] Once an author receives an award, they are more likely to win another award. The tendency to award only a very few authors has received criticism in the last few years. Critiques claim that while the number of awards, and has increased since the 1980s the number of award winners has not. ^[6]

Political implications of receiving an award

The political implications of literary prizes are highlighted when a winner declines, as occurred when several francophone authors expressed their objections to the federal government by rejecting the GGs’ awards in the early 1970s. ^[7]

While today, authors do not generally decline the honour of receiving an award of national significance, choosing short lists and finalists amongst Canadian authors, begs the questions what is Canadian literature, and who “counts” as a Canadian author? In our ever increasing multi-cultural national and international world, who is and who isn’t seen as Canadian has an enormous impact on who does and who does not receive Canadian literary awards. ^[8]

References

</ref> References:

↑ Luneau, Marie-Pier and Ruth Panofsky. “Celebrating Authorship: Prize and Distinctions.” In History of the Book in Canada, Volume 3 1918-1980. ed Carole Gerson and Jacques Michon. Toronto, University of Toronto Press: 2007. p117
↑ Robert, Veronique. “Literary Prizes in French.” in The Canadian Encyclopaedia/ the Encyclopaedia of Music in Canada. Available online at: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0004707
↑ Luneau, Marie-Pier and Ruth Panofsky. “Celebrating Authorship.” p. 117-118
↑ Roberts, Veronique. “Literary Prizes in French” available at http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0004707.
↑ Graham, Bessie. Famous Literary Prizes and their Winners. Toronto, R.R. Bowkers : 1939. p.1
↑ Harvor, Elizabeth. “Juries on Trial.” Books in Canada February 1995, p. 21
↑ Luneau, Marie-Pier. “Celebrating Authorship.” p. 117.
↑ McGoogan, Ken. You and you but not you: the Man Booker Prize long list has stirred up the old “what is Canadian literature” debate. The Globe and Mail. Aug, 8, 2009.