About the GGBooks
The Canada Council for the Arts is responsible for administering and promoting the Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks). The Awards promote literature from Canada, recognizing the most notable English-language and French-language books in seven categories:
- Fiction
- Non-fiction
- Poetry
- Drama
- Young People’s Literature – Text
- Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
- Translation
See the list of finalist and winning books from previous years to read the most notable books!
Milestones
1936
The Governor General’s Literary Awards are established on the initiative of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir and the Canadian Authors Association.
1959
The Awards join the Canada Council for the Arts’ family of prizes. Since then, the Council has assumed responsibility for funding, administering and promoting them.
Today
Today, the Awards continue to play an important role in the ongoing recognition of a diverse and unique literary landscape in Canada.
Prize amounts
$25,000
Amount awarded to the creator(s) of each winning book.
$3,000
Grant for the publisher of each winning book.
$1,000
Amount awarded to each finalist.
Acknowledgements
The Canada Council for the Arts thanks the 2024 GGBooks partners, which promote the winners and finalists, as well as the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General for its ongoing support. The Council also thanks all the peers who assess the titles submitted every year and, of course, all the readers who support literature from Canada.
Peer assessment: The decision-making process
Peer assessment is the foundation of the Canada Council’s decision-making process. Peer assessment committees review all eligible titles in each of seven categories. Each committee chooses one winning book and up to four more books as finalists. A list of peer assessors (PDF 553 KB) is available.
How to enter
Books must be submitted by an eligible publisher. Since the awards recognize artistic and literary merit, publishers should select only works they consider outstanding. The eligibility requirements are set out in the guidelines.
Submitting a book
Publishers can submit works they consider to be outstanding. The guidelines and eligibility requirements are accessible through the button below.