Michael Crummey, Amanda Parris and Armand Garnet Ruffo among 2019 Governor General's Literary Awards finalists

Michael Crummey,Armand Garnet RuffoandAmanda Parrisare among the finalists for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Awards.

The prizes, administeredby theCanada Council for the Arts, are awarded in 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. You can learn about the French-language finalists here.

Crummey is a finalist in the fiction category for his novel The Innocents, a novel about two young siblings surviving on their own in a remote cove after the death of their parents.

The Innocents is also shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• With novel The Innocents, Michael Crummey explores strength, spirit and survival in 18th century Newfoundland

Armand Garnet Ruffois a finalist in the poetry category for TREATY #, a collection that explores the various relationships humans have to each other and to the land.

• Why Joseph A. Dandurand recommends reading TREATY # by Armand Garnet Ruffo

Amanda Parris, who is the host of the CBC Arts show Exhibitionists, is a finalist in the drama category forOther Side of the Game, which is about two black women from different decades the 1970s and today who are community organizers.

• WatchThe Exhibitionists on CBC Gem

Three past winners are nominated in theyoung people's literature illustration category: Sydney Smith for Small in the City,Julie Flettfor Bird Songand Isabelle Arsenault forAlbert's Quiet Quest.

Cary Fagan has picked up two nominations for two different books. In the fiction category, Fagan is a finalistfor his novelThe Studentand, in the young people's literature illustration category, he is shortlisted forKing Mousewith illustrator Dena Seiferling.

Brian Francis is nominated in the category for young people's literature text for his first YA novel, Break in Case of Emergency.

Prominent Canadian translatorsSheila FischmanandRhonda Mullinsare nominated in the translation category for Vi by Kim Thy and The Embalmer by Anne-Rene Caill, respectively.

You can see a complete list of finalists below.

The winner in each category will receive $25,000.The winners will be announced on Oct. 29, 2019.

The Governor General's Literary Awards were created in 1937. Past winners includeThomas King,Madeleine Thien,Michael Ondaatje,Alice MunroandMargaret Atwood.

TheCanada Council for the Artsis a partner oftheCBC Literary Prizes.

• Calling all writers! The CBC Short Story Prize is now open for submissions

Fiction

• Eye by Marianne Micros
• Five Wives by Joan Thomas
• Late Breaking by K.D. Miller
• The Innocents by Michael Crummey
• The Student by Cary Fagan

You can learn more about the fiction finalists here.

Nonfiction

• City of Omens by Dan Werb
• Fryderyk Chopin by Alan Walker
• Sea Trial by Brian Harvey
• Tiny Lights for Travellers by Naomi K. Lewis
• To the River by Don Gillmor

You can learn more about the nonfiction finalists here.

Poetry

• Holy Wild by Gwen Benaway
• How to Avoid Huge Ships by Julie Bruck
• St. Boniface Elegies by Catherine Hunter
• The Grand River Watershedby Karen Houle
• TREATY# by Armand Garnet Ruffo

You can learn more about the poetry finalists here.

Young people's literature text

• Break in Case of Emergency by Brian Francis
• Cold White Sun by Sue Farrell Holler
• Girl of the Southern Sea by Michelle Kadarusman
• Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
• The Grey Sisters by Jo Treggiari

You can learn more about the young people's literature textfinalists here.

Young people's literature illustration

• Albert's Quiet Quest by Isabelle Arsenault
• Birdsong by Julie Flett
• How to Give Your Cat a Bath by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by John Martz
• King Mouse by Cary Fagan, illustrated byDena Seiferling
• Small in the City by Sydney Smith

You can learn more about the young people's literature illustration finalists here.

Drama

• 1 Hour Photo by Tetsuro Shigematsu
• Other Side of the Game by Amanda Parris
• Thanks for Giving by Kevin Loring
• The Fighting Season by Sean Harris Oliver
• What a Young Wife Ought to Know by Hannah Moscovitch

You can learn more about the drama finalists here.

Translation

• 887 by Robert Lepage, translated by Louisa Blair
• Birds of a Kind by Wajdi Mouawad, translated by Linda Gaboriau
• Synapses by Simon Brousseau, translated by Pablo Strauss
• The Embalmer by Anne-Rene Caill, translated by Rhonda Mullins
• Vi by Kim Thy, translated by Sheila Fischman

You can learn more about the translation finalists here.