2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist

THE 2009 SOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE longlist was announced on September 21, 2009. The jury selected 12 titles out of some 96 titles submitted by 39 publishers from all over Canada. American novelist and short-story writer Russell Banks, British biographer Victoria Glendinning and Canadian novelist and short-story writer Alistair MacLeod made up the 2009 jury.

This is what the judges thought about the longlist: “Though they vary stylistically and structurally and connect with and extend a range of novelistic traditions, every one of these twelve books is an excellent, beautifully crafted work of fiction with a cast of vividly realised, memorable characters. We were particularly impressed by the authors’ broad and deep visions of society and their profound affection for humanity and the natural world. Equally impressive is their imaginative engagement with history, from that of ancient Greece to yesterday’s breaking news, and even in a few cases, to the history of a dystopian future.”

The judges have longlisted the following novels for this year’s prize:

1. The Year of the Flood (McClelland & Stewart, 2009) / Margaret Atwood
2. The Incident Report (Pedlar Press, 2009) / Martha Baillie
3. The Disappeared (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Canada, 2009) / Kim Echlin
4. The Heart Specialist (Cormorant Books, 2009) / Claire Holden Rothman
5. The Color of Lightning (HarperCollins Publishers, 2009) / Paulette Jiles
6. The Factory Voice (Coteau Books, 2009) / Jeanette Lynes
7. The Golden Mean (Random House Canada, 2009) / Annabel Lyon
8. The Bishop’s Man (Random House Canada, 2009) / Linden MacIntyre
9. Fall (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Canada, 2009) / Colin McAdam
10. The Winter Vault (McClelland & Stewart, 2009) / Anne Michaels
11. Valmiki’s Daughter (House of Anansi Press, 2009) / Shani Mootoo
12. The Mistress of Nothing (McArthur & Company, 2009) / Kate Pullinger

Female authors, led by Margaret Atwood, Paulette Jiles and Anne Michaels, dominate the longlist this year. There are only two male authors: Linden MacIntyre and Colin McAdam. There are two début novelists: Jeanette Lynes and Annabel Lyon. Surprisingly, Michael Crummey’s Galore and Lori Lansens’s The Wife’s Tale were not longlisted!

A shortlist of five will be announced in Toronto, Ontario, on October 6, 2009.