Governor General’s Literary Awards
Governor General’s Literary Awards
Throughout the year, our partners organize events that feature the books of the Council’s Governor General’s Literary Awards finalists and winners. Whether it be readings, discussions or other original activities, they are all opportunities to discover the best of Canadian literature. Check out this list of events!
Note that some events may take place virtually and be available online. Watch them at your leisure and keep checking this page for updates.
November 14, 2022
Join the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) for a series of free virtual events on November 14 to celebrate finalists for the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Awards. In collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, the events will engage with finalists from the Translation category on their nominated books, explore the challenges of bringing French-language fiction to English readers and delve into the ways in which publishers support translated books.
English
Online
Visit the TIFA website for more details.
April 27 to 30, 2023
Nobody can predict the future, but literature travels wherever it pleases. Beyond the commonplace concerns and alarmist statements that are in the news, four pairs of writers, brought together by contrasts and affinities, will take turns probing the future of four specific themes: literature, language diversity, the planet, and democracy. Join us for captivating discussions during which you will get to see and hear Quebec, Canadian and foreign points of view.
English and French
Hôtel 10, Jardin and Saint-Laurent rooms, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal
Visit the Blue Metropolis Festival website for more details.
Dates to be announced
The Maison de la littérature is inviting audiences to discover excerpts from the winning works of the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Awards. Read by actor Marianne Marceau and accompanied by the music of Frédéric Brunet (both artists to be confirmed), the words of the winning authors truly come to life.
French
Online
Visit the Maison de la littérature website for more details.
October 2022
Wordfest presents its 27th fall festival, the Imaginairium, featuring many Canadian authors who have been GGBooks winners and finalists.
October 2: An exclusive conversation with two-time winner for Young People’s Literature, David A. Robertson, hosted by Shelagh Rogers (later broadcast on The Next Chapter).
October 3: Free Family Storytime, in which David A. Robertson will be reading his picture book From the Trapline. Ice cream treats will be provided by Calgary’s Village Ice Cream.
October 5: Andre Alexis & Yann Martel engage in a generous, wide-ranging conversation, co-presented by Wordfest and PEN Canada.
October 28: Presenting the 1990 GGBooks winner for Drama (English), Ann-Marie MacDonald, and her new novel, Frayne.
English
Various locations
Visit the Imaginairium by Wordfest website for more details.
Sunday, October 2, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT
Raise a glass of mimosa (or a cup of coffee) to celebrate the final event of the 14th annual festival with literary legend David Adams Richards and Wayne Grady. David has followed up his acclaimed Miramichi Trilogy with The Tragedy of Eva Mott, a powerful standalone novel brimming with his signature blend of gravitas and humour about a community under moral scrutiny for a litany of greater and lesser sins. Enjoy your meal and then sit back and enjoy the conversation with the artist often billed as one of Canada’s greatest living writers.
English
Four Points Sheraton Ballroom – 285 King Street East, Kingston, ON K7L 3B1
Visit the Kingston WritersFest website for more details. 
Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 8 p.m. PDT
Some writers are so talented and so transcendent that you wonder how they haven’t been part of the canon for generations. Billy-Ray Belcourt is one of those writers: a GGBooks finalist, the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize, a national bestseller and multi-award-winning memoirist for A History of My Brief Body, and a celebrated professor, writer, and scholar from the Driftpile Cree Nation. He’ll talk more about his work to date, including his debut novel, A Minor Chorus, an urgent story about breaching the prisons inside which we live. Don’t miss your chance to hear from this brilliant, daring literary voice. Hosted by Mercedes Eng.
English
The NEST – Festival House, 1398 Cartwright Street, 3rd Floor, Vancouver, BC V6H 3R8
Visit the Vancouver Writers Fest website for details.The Canada Council for the Arts thanks its media partners for contributing to the promotion of literature.
Publishers can submit works they consider to be outstanding. The guidelines and eligibility requirements are accessible through the button below.