1992 Governor General's Awards

Each winner of the 1992 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

Other Finalists:

• Sandra Birdsell, The Chrome Suite
• Archie Crail, The Bonus Deal
• John Steffler, The Afterlife of George Cartwright
• Sheila Watson, Deep Hollow Creek

Poetry

Winner:

• Lorna Crozier, Inventing the Hawk

Other Finalists:

• Evelyn Lau, Oedipal Dreams
• Laura Lush, Hometown
• Steve McCaffery, Theory of Sediment
• Kathleen McCracken, Blue Light, Bay and College

Drama

Winner:

• John Mighton, Possible Worlds and A Short History of Night

Other Finalists:

• Daniel Brooks and Guillermo Verdecchia, The Noam Chomsky Lectures
• Dave Carley, Writing With Our Feet
• Judith Thompson, Lion in the Streets
• Dianne Warren, Serpent in the Night Sky

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Maggie Siggins, Revenge of the Land: A Century of Greed, Tragedy and Murder on a Saskatchewan Farm

Other Finalists:

• Michael Bliss, Plague: A Story of Smallpox in Montreal
• Ken Cuthbertson, Inside: The Biography of John Gunther
• Michael R. Marrus, Mr. Sam: The Life and Times of Samuel Bronfman

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• Julie Johnston, Hero of Lesser Causes

Other Finalists:

• Margaret Buffie, My Mother's Ghost
• John Ibbitson, 1812: Jeremy and the General
• Thomas King, A Coyote Columbus Story
• Kit Pearson, Looking at the Moon

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Ron Lightburn, Waiting for the Whales

Other Finalists:

• Eric Beddows, Zoom Upstream
• Suzanne Duranceau, Hickory, Dickory, Dock
• Maryann Kovalski, The Big Storm
• Mireille Levert, When Jeremiah Found Mrs. Ming

Translation (from French to English)

Winner:

• Fred A. Reed, Imagining the Middle East

Other Finalists:

• Neil B. Bishop, Death of the Spider
• Sheila Fischman, Felicity's Fool
• Luise von Flotow, Deathly Delights
• Agnes Whitfield, Divine Diva

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Anne Hébert, L'enfant chargé de songes

Other Finalists:

• Lise Bissonnette, Marie suivait l'été
• Louis Lefebvre, Guanahani
• Gilles Pellerin, Je reviens avec la nuit
• Louise Simard, La très noble demoiselle

Poetry

Winners:

• Gilles Cyr, Andromède attendra

Other Finalists:

• Paul Bélanger, Retours suivi de Minuit, l'aube
• Yves Boisvert, La balance du vent
• Pierre Ouellet, Fonds suivi de Faix
• Jean-Noël Pontbriand, Lieux – Passages

Drama

Winner:

• Louis-Dominique Lavigne, Les petits orteils

Other Finalists:

• Dominic Champagne, La cité interdite
• Robert Claing, Anna
• Marie Laberge, Pierre ou la consolation
• Marthe Mercure, Tu faisais comme un appel

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Pierre Turgeon, La Radissonie. Le pays de la baie James

Other Finalists:

• Gilles Boileau, Le silence des Messieurs. Oka, terre indienne
• Jean Marcel, Pensées, passions et proses
• Pierre Morency, Lumière des oiseaux
• Louis Sabourin, Passion d'être, désir d'avoir

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• Christiane Duchesne, Victor

Other Finalists:

• Linda Brousseau, Coups durs pour une sorcière
• Dominique Demers, Un hiver de tourmente
• Esther Rochon, L'ombre et le cheval
• Daniel Sernine, Les rêves d'Argus

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Gilles Tibo, Simon et la ville de carton

Other Finalists:

• Honey Fox, Le bébé de Lulu
• Pierre Pratt, Léon sans son chapeau
• Daniel Sylvestre, Mais qui va trouver le trésor?

Translation (from English to French)

Winner:

• Jean Papineau, La mémoire postmoderne

Other Finalists:

• Marie-Luce Constant, Les princes marchands
• Hervé Juste, Le Canada aux enchères
• Michèle Marineau, Le monde merveilleux de Marigold