21st Century Literature discussion

"The 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist announcement will take place at 10:30 a.m. ET on September 16th in the Moyse Hall Theatre on the McGill University campus (located here). The event will be co-hosted by McGill University’s Faculty of Arts."

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/t...

I'm going to be in a meeting, but perhaps someone else will capture this news for the group.

The longlist for the 21st Scotiabank Giller Prize (2014) is:

Arjun Basu for his novel Waiting for the Man, ECW Press
David Bezmozgis for his novel The Betrayers, HarperCollins Canada
Rivka Galchen for her short story collection American Innovations, HarperCollins Canada
Frances Itani for her book Tell, HarperCollins Canada
Jennifer LoveGrove for her novel Watch How We Walk, ECW Press
Sean Michaels for his novel, Us Conductors, Random House Canada
Shani Mootoo for her novel Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab, Doubleday Canada
Heather O'Neill for her novel The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, HarperCollins Canada
Kathy Page for her short story collection Paradise and Elsewhere, John Metcalf Books/Biblioasis
Claire Holden Rothman for her book My October , Penguin Canada
Miriam Toews for her novel All My Puny Sorrows, Knopf Canada
Padma Viswanathan for her book The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, Random House Canada

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/t...

(Daniel -- especially for you and other Canadian colleagues here.)

Short-listed books marked in bold, 10/6/2014. See also @6 below.

Thanks Lily! I should also point out that the prize has been doubled to $100,000 this year, making the Giller one of the most prestigious literary awards.

Daniel wrote: "Thanks Lily! I should also point out that the prize has been doubled to $100,000 this year, making the Giller one of the most prestigious literary awards."

Thx to you, Daniel, for creating our awareness of this prize! In addition to the top award, four finalists will receive $10,000 each. So we shall watch for the next announcement expected Monday, October 6, 2014.

"The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller, who passed away from cancer the year before. The award recognized excellence in Canadian fiction..."

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/a...

The three-member jury panel for the 2014 prize will consist of Canadian author Shauna Singh Baldwin, British novelist Justin Cartwright, and American writer Francine Prose.

Picked this off a few months ago. Haven't double checked whether still valid. Will be tied up this morning, but will check and post on return. In the meantime, some may want to check the news or site. See @4 for link, see @2 for 2014 long list.

The 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist presentation will begin at 11:00 a.m. EST at a special live event in Toronto. The announcement will be available simultaneously via email press release, marketwired, here on the Scotiabank Giller Prize web site and via related social media channels.

The Shortlist for the 21st Scotiabank Giller Prize (2014) is:

David Bezmozgis for his novel The Betrayers, HarperCollins Canada

Frances Itani for her book Tell, HarperCollins Canada

Sean Michaels for his novel, Us Conductors, Random House Canada

Heather O'Neill for her novel The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, HarperCollins Canada

Miriam Toews for her novel All My Puny Sorrows, Knopf Canada

Padma Viswanathan for her book The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, Random House Canada


http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/t...

2014 Geller Shortlist Covers

The Betrayers looks exceptionally interesting.

November 10, 2014 (Toronto, ON) – Sean Michaels has been named the winner of the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Us Conductors, published by Random House Canada.


From Giller Web Site:

Of the winning book, the jury wrote:

“Michaels’ book is based on the life of Lev Thermen, the Russian-born inventor of the Theremin, the most ethereal of musical instruments. As the narrative shifts countries and climates, from the glittery brightness of New York in the 1920s to the leaden cold of the Soviet Union under Stalin, the grace of Michaels’s style makes these times and places seem entirely new. He succeeds at one of the hardest things a writer can do: he makes music seem to sing from the pages of a novel.”

SEAN MICHAELS was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1982. Raised in Ottawa, he eventually settled in Montreal, founding Said the Gramophone, one of the earliest music blogs. He has since spent time in Edinburgh and Krakow, written for the Guardian and McSweeney’s, toured with rock bands, searched the Parisian catacombs for Les UX, and received two National Magazine Awards.

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/s...

On November 10, the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner was announced - Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis - http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2.... The jury that picked described it as “What does it mean to be alive? To think, to feel, to love and to envy? André Alexis explores all of this and more in the extraordinary Fifteen Dogs, an insightful and philosophical meditation on the nature of consciousness. It’s a novel filled with balancing acts: humour juxtaposed with savagery, solitude with the desperate need to be part of a pack, perceptive prose interspersed with playful poetry. A wonderful and original piece of writing that challenges the reader to examine their own existence and recall the age old question, what’s the meaning of life?”

Thanks, Linda. I lost track of this one this year. Daniel, where are you? ;-)

(Somehow, I just haven't been able to get excited by many of the 2015 literary prize winners, at least compared with 2014, so it feels to me.)

Wow. I can't remember the last time I read a blurb/couple of reviews that wanted to make me read a book so much. That sounds fabulous.

Terry wrote: "Wow. I can't remember the last time I read a blurb/couple of reviews that wanted to make me read a book so much. That sounds fabulous."

I also thought Fifteen Dogs sounded very interesting but I'm embarrassed that I've yet to read last years winner -- Us Conductors -- even though it has been on my shelf for months. Still, I expect Fifteen Dogs will soon also be on the shelf!

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist should be announced tomorrow (9/7/16).

The 2016 jury members are: Canadian writers Lawrence Hill (Jury Chair), Jeet Heer and Kathleen Winter, along with British author Samantha Harvey and Scottish writer Alan Warner.

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http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/j...

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/n...

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist:

1. 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad. (Penguin Random House)
2. Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin. (Random House Canada)
3. Pillow by Andrew Battershill. (Coach House Books)
4. Stranger: A Novel by David Bergen. (HarperCollins)
5. The Wonder (9/20) by Emma Donoghue. (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd)
6. The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux, translated by Lazer Lederhendler. (Biblioasis International Translation Series)
7. The Two of Us by Kathy Page. (John Metcalf, imprint of Biblioasis)
8. Death Valley by Susan Perly. (Wolsak & Wynn)
9. Willem De Kooning's Paintbrush by Kerry-Lee Powell. (HarperAvenue)
10. By Gaslight by Steven Price. (McClelland & Stewart)
11. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien. (Knopf Canada)
12. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall. (House of Anansi)




http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/t...

Any comments on this list from our Canadian colleagues?

I might try and read the shortlist for this one, glad to see a Canadian prize here!

Michelle wrote: "I might try and read the shortlist for this one, glad to see a Canadian prize here!"

As you probably noted, Michelle, the shortlist will be announced on Monday, September 26, 2016.

The winner, on Monday, November 7.

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/n...

Have you, or anyone else, made a guess as to which ones will make that shortlist? (I know very little about any of these books or authors. That said, David Bergen is catching my attention.)

I've only read Do Not Say We Have Nothing, but it was fantastic. I'll be sure to pick up some others though, as I really need to read more Canadian lit!

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is also on the Man Booker longlist. I found a reasonable priced copy (UK edition) on Abebooks and will read when it arrives.

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist announced today, September 26, 2016:

1. 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad. (Penguin Random House)
2. Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin. (Random House Canada)
3. The Wonder (9/20) by Emma Donoghue. (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd)
4. The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux, translated by Lazer Lederhendler. (Biblioasis International Translation Series)
5. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien. (Knopf Canada)
6. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall. (House of Anansi)



http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/...

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/t...

Thanks Lily.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is my favourite book on the Booker shortlist (I am still reading it so my opinion is based on the first three quarters). I have not read any of the others.

Thanks Lily. The Canadian consensus seems to be that this is a great list (judging by my Twitter feed!). I haven't read any yet but have copies of two (Party Wall, Yiddish for Pirates) and will start soon. I'm somewhere on very long library hold lists for the others. I hope to get through most if not all in October.

Hugh wrote: "Thanks Lily.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is my favourite book on the Booker shortlist (I am still reading it so my opinion is based on the first three quarters). I have not read any of the others."

It doesn't seem to be available in the U.S. until October 11. Supposedly I have a paperback version on the way to me from the U.K. -- but some sort of delay seems to be imposed, because it has been awhile since I ordered.

(Turn around favor for the reward lists you and others capture, Hugh. The closeness of the two lists in Canada suggests a different judging motif than some of the others -- e.g., ManBooker seems to imply a reread of its longlist is expected of the judges.)