Giller Prize announces 12 title longlist, including books from 5 independent presses

The Scotiabank Giller Prize, the $100,000 behemoth fiction prize that honours the finest in Canadian prose each year, has announced its 2017 12-title longlist, which includes five books published by independent publishing houses, two literary debuts (Peterson and Winters), and two collections of short fiction. It's a varied and interesting list drawing praise from some members of the Canadian literary community, where concern had recently been expressed about newly tightened guidelines allowing publishers to submitted fewer books to the prize for consideration.

The list also features some familiar names, such as Michael Redhill, David Chariandy, and UK-based Rachel Cusk, each of whom have been nominated for the Giller previously.

The longlist for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

• David Chariandy for his novel Brother, published by McClelland & Stewart
• Rachel Cusk for her novel Transit, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• David Demchuk for his novel The Bone Mother, published by ChiZine Publications
• Joel Thomas Hynes for his novel We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, published by HarperPerennial, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Andrée A. Michaud for her novel Boundary, published by Biblioasis International Translation Series, translated by Donald Winkler
• Josip Novakovich for his story collection Tumbleweed, published by Esplanade Books/Véhicule Press
• Ed O’Loughlin for his novel Minds of Winter, published by House of Anansi Press
• Zoey Leigh Peterson for her novel Next Year, For Sure, published by Doubleday Canada
• Michael Redhill for his novel Bellevue Square, published by Doubleday Canada
• Eden Robinson for her novel Son of a Trickster, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
• Deborah Willis for her story collection The Dark and Other Love Stories, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada
• Michelle Winters for her novel I Am a Truck, published by Invisible Publishing

The five member 2017 jury consists of Canadian writers Anita Rau Badami (Jury Chair), André Alexis, Lynn Coady, as well as British writer Richard Beard and American writer Nathan Englander.

The 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize will air on Mon. Nov. 20, on CBC at 8 p.m. (12 AT/12:30 NT), CBC Radio One at 8 p.m. (9 AT/9:30 NT) and will be livestreamed at CBCBooks.ca.

Beginning in 2017, Audible.ca will be the exclusive audiobook sponsor of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Stay tuned to Open Book for news of the 2017 Giller winner!