Governor General's Literary Award Winners Announced, Including Another Win For Michelle Good

The Canada Council for the Arts today announced the winners of the 2020 Governor General's Literary Awards. Though delayed due to issues related to the pandemic, it was nevertheless an exciting announcement. Notably, it meant a terrific run for Michelle Good, who won the Fiction Award for her acclaimed novel Five Little Indians (HarperCollins Canada). Just last week, Good was awarded the $60,000 Amazon Canada First Novel Award for the same book, which was also nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Gibson-Atwood Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. 

2020 Governor General's Literary Award winners:

Fiction

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (HarperCollins Canada)

Nonfiction

This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart: A Memoir in Halves by Madhur Anand (Strange Light/Penguin Random House Canada)

Poetry

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy by Anne Carson (New Directions Publishing)

Drama

Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story by Kim Senklip Harvey (Talonbooks)

Young People's Literature: Text

The King of Jam Sandwiches by Eric Walters (Orca Book Publishers)

Young People's Literature: Illustrated Books

The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers)

Translation

If You Hear Me, Translated by Lazer Lederhendler; translation of Si tu m’entends by Pascale Quiviger (Biblioasis)

Each winner receives $25,000, and the publisher of each winning book receives $3,000. The remaining finalists in each category receive $1,000.

The awards will return to their regular schedule for the 2021 awards, with finalists announced this fall.

For more information, including the full list of 2020 French language award winners, visit the Canada Council for the Arts website.