The Scotiabank Giller Prize Announces its 2008 Shortlist

October 7, 2008

Today, in a morning press conference that drew over 100 media and members of the publishing industry, the Scotiabank Giller Prize announced its 2008 shortlist. The five finalists were selected by an esteemed jury panel comprised of award-winning author and previous Giller Prize winner Margaret Atwood; Liberal MP, Foreign Affairs critic and author Bob Rae, and; renowned international journalist, professor and author Colm Toibin. The shortlist was chosen from 95 books submitted for consideration by 38 publishing houses from every region of the country.

The 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists are:

  • Joseph Boyden for his novel Through Black Spruce, published by Viking Canada
  • Anthony De Sa for his collection of short stories Barnacle Love, published by Doubleday Canada
  • Marina Endicott for her novel Good to A Fault, published by Freehand Books/Broadview Press
  • Rawi Hage for his novel Cockroach, published by House of Anansi Press
  • Mary Swan for her novel The Boys in the Trees, published by Henry Holt/HB Fenn

Seamus O’Regan, co-anchor of CTV’s Canada A.M. hosted the press conference. Jack Rabinovitch, founder of the Giller Prize, spoke at the event as did Rick White, Vice-President, Brand and Marketing Programs, Scotiabank, and Susanne Boyce, President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV. Two of the three-member jury panel of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Margaret Atwood and Bob Rae, announced the finalists.

CTV Broadcast

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is delighted to announce that CTV will broadcast the Prize gala for the fourth consecutive year. The 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize broadcast on CTV and Bravo! was watched in part by nearly two million viewers, making it the most-watched Giller ever. Canada AM’s Seamus O’Regan will reprise his role as host for this year’s broadcast. The gala will air live on Bravo! with subsequent repeat broadcasts on CTV, Star! and BookTelevision. For the third year in a row, the broadcast will be available live to the world on the CTV Video Player, and then later on demand at CTV.ca. CTV will once again support the broadcast with a dedicated website, giller.ctv.ca. Additional details about CTV’s support of this year’s broadcast will be announced soon.

Scotiabank Partnership

In September of 2005, Jack Rabinovitch announced that Scotiabank would become the first ever co-sponsor of Canada’s richest literary award for fiction. Under the agreement, the prize became known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize. This year, through Scotiabank’s involvement, the prize purse was increased to $70,000, awarding $50,000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the four finalists. This year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize will be announced on November 11th at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel at a gala black-tie dinner and awards ceremony.

‘Guess the Giller’ Contest

Between October 7 – November 10 our annual “Guess the Giller” contest gets underway, giving participants the chance to win a trip for two to a Canadian literary festival of their choice and an autographed set of the shortlisted books. “Guess The Giller” was launched in 2003 together with the Toronto Public Library. This year, more than 30 public library systems, 175 bookstores, post-secondary schools, literary festivals and 1010 Scotiabank branches are promoting the contest to Canadian readers.

Harbourfront International Festival of Authors

For the fifth year in a row, the Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists will have the honour of reading at the IFOA’s Closing Night on Saturday, November 1. For more information, please visit www.readings.org.

The Giller Light

For the sixth year in a row, Frontier College will host the Scotiabank Giller Light Bash – the alternative Giller party of the year. This year’s event will be held in a new venue, the historic Berkeley Church. To date, The Giller Light has raised over $100,000 for Frontier College, Canada’s original literacy organization.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize Anthology

In celebration and recognition of the 15th Anniversary of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, we have worked with Penguin Group (Canada) to put together an anthology of selections by past winners since 1994 as well including the 2008 shortlist. The hardbound book, to be called The Scotiabank Giller Prize: An Anthology of Prize-Winning Canadian Fiction, will be published in November. Special thanks to all the publishers who made this possible – Doubleday Canada, Freehand Books, HarperCollins Canada, HB Fenn, House of Anansi Press, Knopf Canada, McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Group (Canada)/Viking Canada and Thomas Allen Publishers.

Scotiabank

Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2007 the Bank provided more than $43million in sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives, primarily in the areas of healthcare, education, social services and arts and culture. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web at www.scotiabank.com.

CTV

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number one choice for prime-time viewing. CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multi-media company which owns CTV Inc. and The Globe and Mail. CTV Inc. also owns radio stations across the country and leading national specialty channels. Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and in Dome Productions, a North American leader in the provision of mobile high definition production facilities. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca.

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The Scotiabank Giller Prize awards $50,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the finalists. The Scotiabank Giller Prize is named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994 by her husband Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch.