The Scotiabank Giller Prize Presents

its 2018 Longlist

September 17, 2018

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is pleased to announce its longlist for this year’s award. The 2017 Prize winner, Michael Redhill, announced the list during a ceremony at The Rooms in St. John’s, NL. The 12 titles were chosen from a field of 104 books submitted by publishers all across Canada.

This year the Prize celebrates its 25th anniversary.

The longlist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

Paige Cooper for her story collection Zolitude, published by A John Metcalf Book, an imprint of Biblioasis

Patrick deWitt for his novel French Exit, published by House of Anansi Press

Eric Dupont for his novel Songs for the Cold of Heart, translated by Peter McCambridge, published by QC Fiction, an imprint of Baraka Books

Esi Edugyan for her novel Washington Black, published by Patrick Crean Editions, an imprint of HarperCollins Canada

Rawi Hage for his novel Beirut Hellfire Society, published by Knopf Canada

Sheila Heti for her novel Motherhood, published by Knopf Canada

Emma Hooper for her novel Our Homesick Songs, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada

Thea Lim for her novel An Ocean of Minutes, published by Viking Canada

Lisa Moore for her novel Something for Everyone, published by Astoria, an imprint of House of Anansi Press

Tanya Tagaq for her novel Split Tooth, published by Viking Canada

Kim Thúy for her novel Vi, translated by Sheila Fischman, published by Random House Canada

Joshua Whitehead for his novel Jonny Appleseed, published by Arsenal Pulp Press

Of the longlist, the jury wrote:

“We the jury devoted many, many delightful and arduous months of our lives coming up with this longlist. Our sole criteria going into this process was literary excellence. We were looking for books that were written in elevated, idiosyncratic, original prose that exhibited an exquisite command of the art of language, and unparalleled mastery of structure and storytelling. We argued viciously over books, expounding on their merits. But when the battle was over, what remained left us in awe. This list reflects the landscape of the current Canadian imagination: diverse, bold, edgy, exciting, reflective, aware, angry and joyous. Leave it to our literature to speak out beautifully from the far-flung edges of this huge mysterious land, and sing about the erased, the immigrants, the oppressed, the survivors, the entitled. It also reflects the myriad genres that Canadian writers are working in: auto-fiction, science-fiction, epic family sagas, historical novels, coming of age dramas, short-stories, satire. These are stories about and beyond Canada, a list so exciting, exhibiting such pure excellence, it stands up to any list in the world, and it is great, great fun to read.”

This year’s shortlist will be announced at a press event to be held at the Scotiabank Centre at Scotia Plaza in Toronto on Monday, October 1, at 11 a.m. ET. (Doors open at 10:30 a.m.)

Quotes

“I am just delighted for these twelve finalists. They have written extraordinary books that deserve to be read, and read widely. After 25 years, the Prize continues to do what it set out to do all those years ago – spotlight and promote Canadian writers and their books to Canada and the world. We hope to continue doing this work for another 25 years. We could not have done any of this without our most valued partner, Scotiabank. We thank them for their ongoing support and dedication to Canadian literature.”
-Elana Rabinovitch, Executive Director, Scotiabank Giller Prize

“This is an exciting year for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, as we join book lovers in celebrating the 25th anniversary of this important literary award. Scotiabank is proud to support Canada’s talented fiction writers through the Prize. We congratulate the longlisted authors for being recognized for their inspiring works and look forward to celebrating the finalists and winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize in November.”
– John Doig, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Scotiabank

Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists

Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists will take you inside the minds and creative lives of the writers on the 2018 shortlist. All venues are wheelchair accessible and an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter will be present.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is delighted to present the Between the Pages series of readings featuring this year’s shortlisted authors, taking place in:

  • Calgary – October 11;
  • Vancouver – October 15;
  • Halifax – October 25;
  • Ottawa – October 30;
  • Toronto – November 5;
  • New York City – November 7; and,
  • London, U.K. – November 15.

For more information, please visit our events page.

The 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize will air on Monday, November 19, on CBC at 8 p.m. (11:30 AT/12:00 NT) CBC Radio One at 8 p.m. (9 AT/ 9:30 NT) and will be livestreamed at CBCBooks.ca.

Audible, the world’s largest creator and distributor of audiobooks, is committed to supporting talented Canadian authors and narrators and is proud to be the exclusive audiobook sponsor of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.