Scotiabank Giller Longlist Announced

Posted 17 September, 2007 in Book News |

And it can be summed up in one word: boooooring.

This is apparently the year that Giller runs home to mama, after last year’s dominance on the shortlist of two smaller houses, Cormorant and Anansi (neither of which is represented at all on this year’s longlist). Of the fifteen titles on the list, one is from Arsenal Pulp (Soucouyant), one is from Porcupine’s Quill (Zero Gravity), one is from Brindle & Glass (The Reckoning of Boston Jim), and one is from Douglas & McIntyre (A Secret Between Us). The other eleven are from large multinational houses, a staggering five from HarperCollins (Helpless, The Book of Negroes, Stormy Weather, Lauchlin of the Bad Heart, October).

And there are a goodly number of familiar names on this longlist: Barbara Gowdy, Elizabeth Hay, Michael Ondaatje, M.G. Vassanji, Richard Wright. The last three of these have all won Gillers before, in Vassanji’s case, twice.

Barring the unlikely eventuality that four of the five shortlisted titles end up being from the smaller or regional houses, it looks like Giller is playing in the big leagues once again.

The longlist in full:

• David Chariandy, Soucouyant
• Sharon English, Zero Gravity
• Barbara Gowdy, Helpless
• Elizabeth Hay, Late Nights on Air
• Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes
• Paulette Jiles, Stormy Weather
• D.R. MacDonald, Lauchlin of the Bad Heart
• Claire Mulligan, The Reckoning of Boston Jim
• Mary Novik, Conceit
• Michael Ondaatje, Divisidero
• Daniel Poliquin (Donald Winkler, trans.), A Secret Between Us
• M.G. Vassanji, The Assassin’s Song
• Michael Winter, The Architects Are Here
• Richard Wright, October
• Alissa York, Effigy

[UPDATE: From the Quill & Quire OMNI: “Asked about trends among the 108 books submitted, [Giller juror Camilla] Gibb cited ‘a real return to historical fiction’ as well as ‘explorations of our geography.’” Like I said: boring.]

6 comments to “Scotiabank Giller Longlist Announced”

Claire Cameron, September 17th, 2007 at 1:40 pm:

• Your bets?

  I don’t agree with boring (though I like a strong opinion). There are quite a few on the list finally getting their due. This is exciting.

Steven W. Beattie, September 17th, 2007 at 1:48 pm:

• Okay, maybe boring was a bit strong … How about unadventurous? Predictable, even?

  I’m always leery of making predictions, and I’ll wait for the shortlist to be announced on October 9 before committing myself one way or another. The only thing that seems pretty clear to me at this point is that it’s not going to be another year of lesser-knowns making it to the finish line, as happened last year.

August, September 18th, 2007 at 12:06 am:

• Ah, the Friends of Margaret Atwood award, back again so soon. What a time for my site to go down! ‘Boring’ is indeed the word.

jpz, September 18th, 2007 at 11:02 am:

• no longlist maxes out on boring unless Bonnie Burnard is included.

patricia, September 18th, 2007 at 1:04 pm:

• I gotta agree with you, Steve. Reading that list is about as exciting as watching my cat lick its privates. Scratch that – the cat’s more exciting. The next time I’m having trouble sleeping I’m gonna get the husband to repeat the phrase “explorations of our geography” over and over again. I’m sure I’ll be unconscious in five minutes tops.

B, September 18th, 2007 at 4:16 pm:

• Oh, but doesn’t this list reflect the diversity of Canadian culture and literature?

  *snickers*

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