Governor General's Awards - Governor General's Literary Awards

Governor General's Literary Awards

Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit

English-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1937–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration French to English translation

French-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1959–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration English to French translation

Awards by year	1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

For lists of winners in each category of the Governor General's Literary Awards, click "show" above

Since their creation in 1937, the Governor General's Literary Awards have become one of Canada's most prestigious prizes, awarded in both French and English in seven categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, children's literature (one each for text and illustration), and translation. The awards were created by the Lord Tweedsmuir, himself the author of The Thirty-Nine Steps. The awards first honoured only two authors each year, and only those who wrote in English. Then, in 1957 the awards were put under the administration of the Canada Council for the Arts and a cash prize began to be awarded to the winner. By 1980, the council began to announce the finalists for the awards a month before they were presented in order to attract more media attention, and in 2007 the cash prize was increased to $25,000.

During her tenure from 1999 to 2005, Adrienne Clarkson made an effort to obtain copies of every Governor General's Literary Awards winning book from fairs and second hand shops for the governor general's study. As of 2004 there remained only two titles unrepresented.

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