1999 Governor General's Awards

The winners of the 1999 Canadian Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, Chairman, and Shirley L. Thomson, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts, at a press conference held on November 16 at the National Library of Canada. Each winner received a cheque for $10,000.

English-language finalists

Fiction

• Matt Cohen, Elizabeth and After
• Neil Bissoondath, The Worlds Within Her
• Anne Fleming, Pool-hopping and Other Stories
• Elyse Gasco, Can You Wave Bye Bye, Baby?
• Keith Maillard, Gloria

Poetry

• Jan Zwicky, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth
• Lynn Davies, The Bridge that Carries the Road
• Susan Goyette, The True Names of Birds
• Richard Harrison, Big Breath of a Wish
• Terence Young, The Island in Winter

Drama

• Michael Healey, The Drawer Boy
• Wendy Lill, Corker
• Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge
• Colleen Murphy, Beating Heart Cadaver
• Theresa Tova, Still the Night

Non-fiction

• Marq de Villiers, Water
• Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder
• Michael Bliss, William Osler
• Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood
• Wayne Johnston, Baltimore's Mansion - A Memoir

Children's literature (text)

• Rachna Gilmore, A Screaming Kind of Day
• Don Gillmor, The Christmas Orange
• Graham McNamee, Hate You
• W.D. Valgardson, The Divorced Kids Club and Other Stories
• Frieda Wishinsky, Each One Special

Children's literature (illustration)

• Gary Clement, The Great Poochini
• Rose Cowles, I Know an Old Laddie
• Zhong-Yang Huang, Dragon New Year
• Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad: from the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights
• Werner Zimmermann, Brave Highland Heart

French-to-English translation

• Patricia Claxton, Gabrielle Roy: A Life (François Ricard, Gabrielle roy, une vie)
• David Homel, Olivo Oliva (Philippe Poloni, Olivo, Oliva)
• Nancy Huston, The Mark of the Angel (her own novel L'Empreinte de l'ange)
• Lazer Lederhendler, The Sparrow Has Cut the Day in Half (Claire Dé, Bonheur, Oiseau rare)
• Donald Winkler, The World of the Gift (Jacques Godbout and Alain Caillé, L'Esprit du don)

French-language finalists

Fiction

• Lise Tremblay, La Danse juive
• Hugues Corriveau, Le Ramasseur de souffle
• Jacques Marchand, Les Vents dominants
• Carole Massé, L'Ennemi
• Gaétan Soucy, La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes

Poetry

• Herménégilde Chiasson, Conversations
• Claude Beausoleil, Le Chant du voyageur
• Nicole Brossard, Musée de l'os et de l'eau
• Carole David, La Maison d'Ophélie
• Pierre Ouellet, Dieu sait quoi

Drama

• Jean-Marc Dalpé, Il n'y a que l'amour
• Carole Fréchette, Les Sept Jours de Simon Labrosse
• René Gingras, D'Avila
• Michel Tremblay, Encore une fois, si vous permettez

Non-fiction

• Pierre Perrault, Le Mal du Nord
• Anne Élaine Cliche, Dire le livre
• Jean-Claude Dubé, Le Chevalier de Montmagny: Premier gouverneur de la Nouvelle-France
• François-Marc Gagnon, Chronique du mouvement automatiste québécois 1941-1954
• Daniel Jacques, Nationalité et Modernité

Children's literature (text)

• Charlotte Gingras, La Liberté? Connais pas...
• Agathe Génois, Adieu, vieux lézard!
• Andrée-Anne Gratton, Le Message du biscuit chinois
• Sylvie Nicolas, Célestine Motamo
• Raymond Plante, Marilou Polaire et l'iguane des neiges

Children's literature (illustration)

• Stéphane Jorisch, Charlotte et l'île du destin
• Nicole Lafond, Contes pour enfants
• Michèle Lemieux, Nuit d'orage
• Luc Melanson, La Petite Kim
• Pierre Pratt, La Vie exemplaire de Martha et Paul

English-to-French translation

• Jacques Brault, Transfiguration
• Charlotte Melançon, Réflexions d'un frère siamois
• Marie José Thériault, Ours