Scott Spencer is the author of twelve novels, including Endless Love, Waking the Dead, A Ship Made of Paper, and Man in the Woods. He has been nominated for the National Book Award three times and has taught at Columbia University, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Williams College, the University of Virginia, and at Eastern Correctional Facility as part of the Bard Prison Initiative. He lives with the writer Jo Ann Beard in upstate New York.
Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation. He has written three fiction titles, and his short stories and essays have been published in numerous anthologies. His most recent novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was published in 2018 and became a national bestseller. He graduated from the journalism program at the university formerly known as Ryerson in 2002, and spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist and radio host. He left CBC in 2020 to focus on his literary career. He lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and two sons.
Casey Plett is the author of A Dream of a Woman, Little Fish, A Safe Girl to Love, and the co-editor of Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy From Transgender Writers. She has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, the Winnipeg Free Press, and other publications. A winner of the Amazon First Novel Award, the Firecracker Award for Fiction, and a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award, her work has also been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. She splits her time between New York City and Windsor, Ontario.
Katie Kitamura’s most recent novel is Intimacies. One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021 and a Barack Obama recommended read, it was longlisted for the National Book Award and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Her third novel, A Separation, was a finalist for the Premio von Rezzori and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Gone To The Forest and The Longshot, both finalists for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award.
Kaie Kellough is a novelist, poet, and sound performer. His work emerges at a crossroads of social engagement and formal experiment. From western Canada, he lives in Montréal and has roots in Guyana, South America. His books include Dominoes at the Crossroads (short fiction, Véhicule 2020), Magnetic Equator (poetry, McClelland and Stewart 2019), and Accordéon (novel, ARP 2016). Kaie’s writing has been awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize and the QWF Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. It has been longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and nominated for several other national awards.
Meet David Chariandy, one of the jurors for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. His first novel, Soucouyant, was nominated for 11 literary prizes, including the Governor General’s Award and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His second novel, Brother, was nominated for fourteen prizes.
Meet Claire Armitstead, one of the jurors for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. She is Associate Editor, Culture, at the Guardian, where she has previously acted as arts editor, literary editor and head of books. She presents the weekly Guardian books podcast and is a regular commentator on radio, and at live events across the UK and internationally. She is a trustee of English PEN.
Mark Sakamoto's book, Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents won CBC Canada Reads and has been a number one national best seller in two separate years. It is currently being developed for screen and theatre. Mark is the host and executive producer of Good People, a CBC television series which explores societal problems and scours the planet for hopeful places and solutions.
Meet Eden Robinson, one of the jurors for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Eden Robinson is a Haisla/Heiltsuk author who grew up in Haisla, British Columbia. Her novels Monkey Beach and Son of a Trickster were both shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Meet Tom Rachman, one of the jurors for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Tom is a Canadian/British author and journalist. He is the author of The Imperfectionists and The Italian Teacher.