VIDEO: Giller contender David Bezmozgis

Six Canadian authors arein the runningfor the 2011 Giller Prize, with one writer set to receive the coveted trophy and $50,000 at a glitzy gala in Toronto on Nov. 8.

Founded by Jack Rabinovitch in 1994 in memory of his late, literary journalist wife Doris Giller, the annual award has become one of the countrys most prominent and lucrative fiction-writing honours.

David Bezmozgis, who is of Latvian heritage,is a nominee for his debut novel The Free World, a chronicle of a Soviet-Jewish family of refugees stranded in Europe.

In the video above, Toronto-based Bezmozgis talks to CBC about taking the immigrant storyand translating it for others, exploring the greatest hits of Soviet culture and finding inspiration in Mordecai Richler.