The Canada Council for the Arts presents the finalists of
the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Awards
The Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks) celebrate literature and inspire people to read books by creators from Canada. They provide finalists and winners with valuable recognition from peers and readers across the country.
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The most notable books of 2025
2025 English-language finalists 2025 French-language finalists
Fiction
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Carol Bruneau
Bridget Canning
Conor Kerr
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Daniel Grenier
Ayavi Lake
Sophie Létourneau
Poetry
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Tammy Armstrong
Katia Grubisic
Kevin Irie
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Chantal Ringuet
Patrick Roy
Ouanessa Younsi
Drama
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Kanika Ambrose
Sharon King-Campbell
Bruce McKay
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard
Pénélope Bourque
Émilie Monnet
Non-fiction
Mourir de froid, c’est beau, c’est long, c’est délicieux
Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal (Les salicaires) (in French only)
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Kevin Chong
Norma Dunning
Adrienne Gruber
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Marie-Pier Lafontaine
Guylaine Massoutre
Melchior Mbonimpa
Young People’s Literature – Text
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Wayne Arthurson
Susin Nielsen
Karen Rivers
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Lula Carballo
Mathieu Fortin
François Gilbert
Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Dawn Baker
Matthew Forsythe
Bridget George
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Katia Canciani
Lyne Gareau
Samuel Parent
Translation
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Bilal Hashmi
Dimitri Nasrallah
PEER ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
Arianne Des Rochers
Émilie Laramée
Paul Ruban
Visit the 2025 GGBooks partner websites to find the year’s most notable books.
The Canada Council for the Arts thanks this year’s GGBooks partners for their contributions to the promotion of literature from Canada.
Submitting a book
Publishers can submit works they consider to be outstanding. The guidelines and eligibility requirements will be made available in the Canada Council’s online funding portal two months prior to the next competition deadline.