October
2, 2003
THE GILLER PRIZE 2003 ANNOUNCES SHORTLIST
Canada's Premier Literary Prize for Fiction Names Its Finalists
TORONTO
- Today, in a morning press conference that drew over 100
media and members of the publishing industry, The Giller
Prize announced its 2003 shortlist and revealed special
plans to mark its 10th anniversary. Selected by an esteemed
jury panel, comprised of jurist Rosalie Silberman Abella,
scholar and academic David Staines and author Rudy Wiebe,
the five finalists were chosen from 93 books submitted for
consideration. Those books were submitted by 38 publishers
from every region of the country.
The
jury named the finalists. They are:
• Margaret Atwood for her novel Oryx
and Crake, published by McClelland & Stewart
• John Bemrose for his novel The
Island Walkers, published by McClelland & Stewart
• John Gould for his short story
collection Kilter: 55 Fictions, published
by Turnstone Press
• Ann-Marie MacDonald for her novel
The Way the Crow Flies, published by Knopf
Canada
• M.G. Vassanji for his novel, The
In-Between World of Vikram Lall, published by Doubleday
Canada
Jack Rabinovitch,
who founded the Prize in memory of his late wife, literary
journalist
Doris Giller, spoke at the press conference and announced
several initiatives underway
to mark the 10th anniversary of the Prize.
More
on the Finalists
The
Broadcast
For the first time, the awards ceremony will be simulcast
live across Canada on three
networks: Bravo! NewsStyleArtsChannel, Book Television:
The Channel and CBC Television. The show will run from 9:00P
until 10:00P Eastern. This is Bravo!’s 6th year broadcasting
the awards, and the first time CBC will air the ceremony
live.
The
Gala
On Tuesday, November 4th, the finalists will be honoured
and a winner announced at
a gala black tie dinner and awards ceremony to be held at
Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel.
In a departure from tradition, Jack Rabinovitch will be
handing over gala hosting duties
this year to Mary Walsh, host of CBC Television’s
Open Book and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. “Short
of winning the much coveted award, says Walsh, “nothing
could thrill me more than hosting it.”
Public Library Promotion
As part of a focused campaign to bring Canadian literature
to a wider reading audience, The Giller Prize has teamed
up with the Toronto Public Library (TPL) to launch a pilot
project involving this year’s shortlisted books, set
to begin Tuesday, October 14th, 2003.
The TPL -
with over 30 million actual and virtual visitors each year
- will carry ballot boxes in 15 branches across the
city and will also run the promotion through their website
at www.tpl.toronto.on.ca. On the ballots, contest participants
will be asked to predict the winner. The draw will take
place on November 5. The first five winning entries will
receive the entire 2003 shortlist library.
Statistics gathered
by the TPL indicate that demand for the Giller shortlisted
and winning titles increases each year. Josephine Bryant,
City Librarian, says given readers’ enthusiasm, the
association is a perfect fit. “The Toronto Public
Library has long been a proud supporter of Canadian literature.
We know our patrons have a keen interest in stories by and
about Canadians and we’re delighted to respond to
that interest by working with The Giller Prize on this project,”
says Bryant.
The Giller Prize
is committed to widening the scope of the Library program
to include every region of the country once the pilot project
is completed and assessed.
The
Giller Light
Also on November 4, Frontier College will host its second-annual
Giller Light Bash at Steam Whistle Brewing in Toronto. The
goal is to raise funds to help children and youth improve
their reading and writing skills through an expansion of
Frontier College’s Homework Clubs, its after school
literacy program for inner-city students. Last year, the
Giller Light Bash raised $12,500. Please visit http://www.gillerlight.ca.for
more information.
Department
of Canadian Heritage
We are pleased to announce that the Department of Canadian
Heritage, through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP) is providing financial support for this,
the 10th year of the Prize.
The Giller Prize awards $25,000 annually to the author of
the best Canadian novel or short story collection published
in English. The 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.
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