Scotiabank Giller Prize Announces 14-Book 2022 Longlist for $100,000 Award

This morning during a Facebook livestream, the Scotiabank Giller Prize announced its 2022 14-book longlist.

Hosted by 2021 winner Omar el Akkad, the ceremony thanked judges Kaie Kellough, Katie Kitamura, Casey Plett (jury chair), Scott Spencer and Waubgeshig Rice, who chose the longlist from nearly 140 submissions and will select the shortlist (to be announced September 27) and the eventual winner (to be announced November 7) as well as prize sponsor Scotiabank, which has supported the award since 2005. 

El Akkad added a some humour and warmth to the announcement, touching on his own experience of being a Giller nominee and eventual winner, referring to the "overwhelming experience" and dryly referencing TikTok and Twitter discussions about the prize and the surreal experience of seeing his book and nomination discussed in real time online. 

The announcement also highlighted the return of the in-person Between the Pages event series, with a six-city tour across the country featuring all the shortlisted authors. 

The 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist:

• Billy-Ray Belcourt for his novel, A Minor Chorus, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
• André Forget for his novel, In the City of Pigs, published by Dundurn Press
• Kim Fu for her short story collection, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21^st Century, published by Coach House Books
• Rawi Hage for his short story collection, Stray Dogs, published by Knopf Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
• Sheila Heti for her novel, Pure Colour, published by Knopf Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
• Brian Thomas Isaac for his novel, All the Quiet Places, published by Touchwood Editions
• Conor Kerr for his novel, Avenue of Champions, published by Nightwood Editions
• Suzette Mayr for her novel, The Sleeping Car Porter, published by Coach House Books
• Noor Naga for her novel, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, published by Graywolf Press
• André Narbonne for his novel Lucien & Olivia, published by Black Moss Press
• Dimitri Nasrallah for his novel, Hotline, published by Véhicule Press
• Fawn Parker for her novel, What We Both Know, published by McClelland & Stewart, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
• Tsering Yangzom Lama for her novel, We Measure The Earth With Our Bodies, published by McClelland & Stewart, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
• Antoine Wilson for his novel, Mouth to Mouth, published by Simon & Schuster Canada

The nominated publishers are a mix of multinational and independent houses, with five spots for imprints of Penguin Random House Canada and one for Simon & Schuster Canada, and the remaining eight spots split between independent houses Coach House Books (with two nominations), Dundurn Press (which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year), Touchwood Editions, Nightwood Editions, Graywolf Press (which is based in Minnesota), Black Moss Press, and Véhicule Press. Two of the 14 longlisted titles are short story collections, with the rest being novels. 

The authors are similarly varied, with a mix of well-known prize darlings like Rawi Hage and Sheila Heti, and debut breakout stars like Tsering Yangzom Lama and Brian Thomas Isaac. 

Stay tuned to Open Book for more Giller Prize news, and additional literary prize news, as the fall literary season continues.