By the Chapter & Verse Team » Canadian expatriate authors scooped the top fiction prizes at the 2009 Governor General's Literary Awards, announced today.

Kate Pullinger, originally from Cranbrook, British Columbia, but now based in the UK, claimed her first big literary award for her book The Mistress of Nothing, a historical novel set in 19th century Egypt. She beat out stiff competition, including high-profile authors Alice Munro and the fast-rising Annabel Lyon.

The 47-year-old, Cranbrook, B.C.-bred, U.K.-based author took the $25,000 award for her eighth book, The Mistress of Nothing, a historical novel set in 19th century Egypt. The book was also longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The French fiction award went to Julie Mazzieri, originally from Saint-Paul-de-Chester, Quebec, but now living in France. She won for Le discours sur la tombe de l’idiot.
(Éditions José Corti; distributed by Diffusion Dimédia).

In The Mistress of Nothing (published by McArthur & Company), Pullinger creates the fascinating character of Sally, maid to Lady Duff Gordon in Victorian times. Over the course of a memorable journey down the Nile with her Lady, Sally comes to realizations about the nature of power – its seductiveness, its elusiveness and its ability to alter the soul in manifold ways.

Mazzieri's  is an exceptionally polished novel, the result of an exemplary mastery of narrative. The text is deep, dark and implacable, and the tight, suspenseful writing lingers long after the book is finished. The author sets herself the challenge of making the story believable, and she succeeds brilliantly.

For the first time in the history of the Awards one book wins in both categories of children’s literature (text and illustration): Harvey by author Hervé Bouchard and illustrator Janice Nadeau, a three-time Award-winner. 

Children’s literature was also the focus in the English-language translation category, with Susan Ouriou winning for her translation of a young adult novel, Pieces of Me, a translation of La liberté? Connais pas…  by Charlotte Gingras. 

M.G. Vassanji, a past finalist in fiction, wins this year in the non-fiction category for his account of his travel in India, A Place Within: Rediscovering India.

Paule Noyart, winner in French-language translation, takes home her second Award this year for her translation of Camilla Gibb’s Sweetness in the Belly.

This year, 12 of the 14 winners receive this award for the very first time.

The Canada Council funds, administers and promotes the awards the Governor General’s Literary Awards, Canada’s oldest and most prestigious awards for English- and French-language Canadian literature. The value of each award is $25,000 and each winner also receives a specially-bound copy of the winning book created by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois. 

Governor General's Literary Awards Winners

Fiction

Kate Pullinger, London (UK) [originally from Cranbrook, British Columbia], The Mistress of Nothing. (McArthur & Company; distributed by the publisher)

In The Mistress of Nothing, Kate Pullinger creates the fascinating character of Sally, maid to Lady Duff Gordon in Victorian times. Over the course of a memorable journey down the Nile with her Lady, Sally comes to realizations about the nature of power – its seductiveness, its elusiveness and its ability to alter the soul in manifold ways.

Julie Mazzieri, Velone-Orneto (France) [originally from Saint-Paul-de-Chester, Quebec], Le discours sur la tombe de l’idiot. (Éditions José Corti; distributed by Diffusion Dimédia)

An exceptionally polished novel, the result of an exemplary mastery of narrative. The text is deep, dark and implacable, and the tight, suspenseful writing stays with us long after the book is finished. The author sets herself the challenge of making the story believable, and she has succeeded brilliantly.

Poetry

David Zieroth, North Vancouver, The Fly in Autumn. (Harbour Publishing; distributed by the publisher)

In The Fly in Autumn, David Zieroth addresses our common and defining human fate – the loneliness that is a rehearsal for death – with a tenderness and buoyancy that shows the reader “how to walk in the dark with flowers.” The intricacy and exuberance of rhyme and the breadth of vision are stunning.

Hélène Monette, Montreal, Thérèse pour joie et orchestre. (Les Éditions du Boréal; distributed by Diffusion Dimédia)

In Thérèse pour joie et orchestre, the poet transforms the sister she lost to illness into a happy spirit floating over people and places. This elegy orchestrated by Hélène Monette is astonishing in its ability to touch the reader. A magnificent ode in a voice that is generous and powerful.

Drama

Kevin Loring, Vancouver, Where the Blood Mixes. (Talonbooks; distributed by Publishers Group Canada)

An abducted daughter returns to her wounded community after many years away. Kevin Loring illuminates the complex aftermath of the residential school system and the circumstances of contemporary Aboriginal history through compelling, sympathetic and humorous characters who live as best they can, with courage and strength.

Suzanne Lebeau, Montreal, Le bruit des os qui craquent. (Leméac Éditeur; distributed by Socadis)

Le bruit des os qui craquent is a rare, courageous and beautiful work. Suzanne Lebeau conveys the devastating effects of war on children with sensitivity and uncompromising rigour. Directly and with heartbreaking lucidity, she broaches the question of individual and collective responsibility, and proposes empathy as the road toward hope and ultimately, redemption.

Non-fiction

M.G. Vassanji, Toronto, A Place Within: Rediscovering India. (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)  

An utterly brilliant, evocative memoir that ranges across the landscapes of culture, memory, identity and history. M.G. Vassanji’s style – diverse and playful – brings the reader along effortlessly, illuminating the ramshackle roots of self, family, and culture. An outstanding book of self-reflection and persistent insight, A Place Within is the resonant chronicle of a sage, a traveler, a pilgrim.

Nicole V. Champeau, Ottawa, Pointe Maligne : l’infiniment oubliée. (Les Éditions du Vermillon; distributed by Prologue)

Like a requiem, this book sings of the destruction of the territories of the Upper Saint Lawrence, drowned by dams and depopulated by expropriation. These places have even disappeared from the memories of maps. Around Cornwall, originally called Pointe Maligne, the memory of the founding peoples, Amerindian and French, has been obliterated.

Children’s Literature - Text

Caroline Pignat, Ottawa, Greener Grass: The Famine Years. (Red Deer Press, a division of Fitzhenry & Whiteside; distributed by the publisher) 

Caroline Pignat’s Greener Grass: The Famine Years follows the disintegration of the Byrne family during Ireland’s Great Famine of 1847, when landlords ruled without mercy, children could be taken away to prison, and thousands were left to starve. A timeless story of courage, family loyalty and the resilience of the human spirit.

Hervé Bouchard, Saguenay (Quebec), Harvey. (Les Éditions de la Pastèque; distributed by Socadis)  

Hervé Bouchard makes us feel the confusion and helplessness of a little boy faced with the death of his father. His surprising and extremely sensitive writing is deeply moving. Through a series of poetically powerful metaphors, he allows us the freedom to explore the multiple layers of his story.

Children’s Literature – Illustration

Jirina Marton, Colborne (Ontario), Bella’s Tree, text by Janet Russell. (Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)

Jirina Marton’s illustrations invite the reader to a winter landscape full of textures and subtle, earthy colour palettes. The Van Gogh-like interior and its warm tones create a holiday season mood that evokes an emotional response. The illustrations are well crafted and capture the imagination and humanity of the everyday lives they portray.

Janice Nadeau, Montreal, Harvey, text by Hervé Bouchard. (Les Éditions de la Pastèque; distributed by Socadis)

In illustrating a book that stands out for the originality of its language, Janice Nadeau has come up with wonderful ways of depicting the sadness of spring and the melancholy of loss. The subtle drawings dance with the text and give rhythm to the reading. Hervé Bouchard’s Quebec comes alive under the brush strokes of the illustrator.

Translation

Susan Ouriou, Calgary, Pieces of Me. (Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)

English translation of La liberté? Connais pas… by Charlotte Gingras (Les éditions de la courte échelle)

With Pieces of Me, Susan Ouriou has created a magical rendering of the exquisite original. Tenderly redrawing the portrait of a troubled teenage girl struggling to come into her own, Ouriou has sensitively captured all that is moving, poetic and funny about the novel’s main character in a truly accomplished translation.  

Paule Noyart, Bromont (Quebec), Le miel d’Harar. (Leméac Éditeur / Actes Sud; distributed by Socadis)

French translation of Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb (Anchor Canada)

Paule Noyart shows a keen sensitivity to the poetry of the original. In a true act of literary creation, the expressive liberties the translator has taken serve this culturally-rich novel well. The remarkable quality of her work manages to transcend the limits of the translator’s art – a rare accomplishment indeed.