The finalists for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction

Here are the finalists for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.

The Governor General's Literary Awards are one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious prizes.The awards, administeredby theCanada Council for the Arts, are givenin seven English-language categories:fiction,nonfiction,poetry,young people's literature text,young people's literature illustration,dramaandtranslation. Seven French-language awards arealsogiven outin the same categories.

Each winner receives $25,000.The winners will be announced on Oct. 30, 2018.

You can see the finalists in all seven categories here.

Zolitudeby Paige Cooper

Mixing the contemporary with the surreal,Paige Cooperties her debut collection of short fiction together with the overarching theme of love. Zolitude tells stories of Russian spies, monstrous creatures and nine-year-old girls who buildtime machines. Originally from the Rocky Mountains,Coopernow lives in Montreal and has been published in literary magazines like the Fiddlehead and Briar Patch.

Beirut Hellfire SocietybyRawi Hage

Rawi Hage'snovel follows a young man named Pavlovas he takes his deceased father's place in a mysterious group known as the Hellfire Society. Part of their mission is to arrange secret burials for the outcasts of Lebanon thosedenied burial because they weregay, atheist or otherwise abandoned.Hagehas twice been shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2008 forCockroachand in 2006 forDe Niro's Game,the latter of which received the IMPACDublin Literary Award. Beirut Hellfire Society is also shortlistedfor the 2018 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

• Rawi Hage ponders death, war and the nature of mourning in the novel Beirut Hellfire Society

The Red Word by SarahHenstra

In Sarah Henstra's novelThe Red Word, a group of feminists at an Americanuniversity plot to bring down a notorious fraternity after Karen,a college sophomore, wakesup one night on the fraternity's front lawn. As part of an elaborate plan for payback, Karen finds herself immersed in fraternity party culture while becoming further integrated into a feminist activist group of women. The Red Word examines consent, rape culture and politics as they play out on a mid-1990scollege campus.

• How stereotypes about feminism drove novelist Sarah Henstra to writeThe Red Word

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

In Miriam Toews's powerful new novel, eight Mennonite women come together to talk. Why? They have 48 hours to make a decision that will impact every woman and child in their community.Women Talkingis inspired by the real-life case in the 2000s, when womenin a Bolivian Mennonite community began whispering that they were waking up groggy, in pain, feeling like they had been sexually molested.

• Miriam Toews: They've been called 'the ghost rapes of Bolivia'

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

The titular character of the novelJonny Appleseedis a self-styled "NDN glitter princess" who works as a cybersex worker in the city. Preparing to head home for his stepfather's funeral, Jonny reflects on his decision to leave his reserve and the life he's led since.JonnyAppleseedis the Peguis First Nationwriter's first novel, but he's also the author of the experimental poetry collectionfull-metal indigiqueer.

• Why Joshua Whitehead plays with form and time in his debut novel