The 2015 Giller Prize short list includes (from left) Quebec author Samuel Archibald for his story collection Arvida, Montreal's Heather O'Neill for her story collection Daydreams of Angels, Toronto's André Alexis for his novel Fifteen Dogs, Vancouver writer Anakana Schofield for her novel Martin John and U.K.-based Rachel Cusk for her novel Outline.
Photo Credit: CBC Books

Scotiabank Giller Prize 2015 short list announced

Scotiabank Giller Prize nominees were announced today in Toronto, and three novels and two short story collections made the short list for 2015.

Heather O’Neill is on the short list for the second year in a row. Last year she was nominated for her novel The Girl Who Was Saturday Night. This year, she is being recognized for her short story collection Daydreams of Angels.

For André Alexis, this is his second short list inclusion this year. His novel Fifteen Dogs is also nominated for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

Another short story collection, Samuel Archibald’s, Arvida was a bestseller in it’s original French version. The English-language edition, translated by Donald Winkler, was just released.

Anakana Schofield rounds out the list for her sophomore novel, Martin John. Her debut novel,Malarky, won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the Debut-Litzer Prize for Fiction.

And Rachel Cusk, a Canadian by birth, grew up in the U.K., is now a finalist for her novel Outline.  She was also a finalist for the Bailey’s Prize in the U.K.

The five-member international jury included writiers, Helen Oyeyemi, now based in Prague, Cecil Foster, currently in Buffalo, New York, Irish writer John Boyne, Toronto-based writer Alison Pick, and from Halifax, Nova Scotia, writer Alexander MacLeod. John Boyne said the team got together and debated long and hard for a day before establishing the short list. 

The winner of the $100,000 prize, the richest literary prize in Canada, will be revealed on November 10, at a gala, broadcast on CBC Television and live streamed on CBCBooks.ca.

The Giller Prize was established in memory of journalist and literary editor Doris Giller who lived and worked in Montreal and Toronto. Following her death in the spring of 1993, her husband, Jack Rabinovitch established the award the followoing year. It would be given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, following an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries. There was a $25,000 Cdn prize along with the honour.

In 2005 an endorsement deal was reached with Scotiabank, one of Canada’s major financial institutions. Following several incremental increases over the years. in 2014 the prize was established at $100,000 Cdn for the winning author, and $10,000 Cdn for each of the authors short listed.

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