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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 best 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 best 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 each winner.

$3,000

Grant to the publisher of each winning book.

$1,000

Amount awarded to each finalist.

Acknowledgements

The Canada Council for the Arts thanks the 2023 GGBooks partners, which promote the works of 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 455 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. 

Submit a book

Media partners

The Canada Council for the Arts thanks the 2023 GGBooks media partners for contributing to the promotion of literature from Canada.

CBC Radio-CanadaL'actualité

Submitting a book

Publishers can submit works they consider to be outstanding. The guidelines and eligibility requirements are accessible through the button below.

How to submit a nomination