Giller Prize reveals long list and celebrates late founder

"The long list will be read in alphabetical order I'm shaking! Oh my goodness."

Author Madeline Thien knows how it feels to be nominated for Canada's biggest literary prize. But as she stood in St. John's to unveil the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prizelong list,Thien had a moment of butterflies.

"It's an emotional day for Canadian writers," Thien said later. "Books they put years into creating, it's a window where they may find readers very quickly. And you want that for these books and for these writers."

Thien's novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing was last year's winner of the prestigious literary prize,and as suchshe was invited to announce this year's Giller long list. The ceremony was held at The Rooms in St. John's, part of an ongoing effort to hold Giller events outside of Toronto.

"It's very important to us that we represent all of Canada." said Michelle Kadarusman,the Giller Prize's submissions manager, at the museum. "We have the long list here in St. John's;we've had the long list in Montreal as well. And we've got reading events in Calgary, in Vancouver, in Ottawa, in Halifax and of course in Toronto. So it's really important for us to get across the country."

Jack Rabinovitch remembererd

This will be the first Giller Prize since founder Jack Rabinovitch died in August. Rabinovitch famously founded the prize as a tribute to his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. The $100,000 grand prize is the richest literary award in the country.

At today's ceremony, Dean Brinton Rabinovitch's friend and CEO of The Rooms praised Rabinovitch's passion for CanLit, and his droll sense of humour.

"Everyone loved Jack," Brinton said. "Even those who didn't get invited to the gala."

Kadarusman said the Rabinovith family is still mourning his loss, and that this year's Giller Prize ceremony will be a difficult one. "But we also know that what he would want is for us to celebrate the authors, to celebrate Canadian literature. So we will definitely still be doing that."

12 booksmake the cut

The 12 novels andstory collections on the long list were chosen from 112 submissions by 73 publishers across Canada.

A cheer went up from the St. John's crowd when Newfoundland author Joel Thomas Hynes's name was announced. His nominated novel,We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, begins in scrappy downtown St. John's and follows a tough-guy protagonist on a cross-country journey.

The long list was a closely guarded secret. and Hynes himself wasn't at the ceremony. But Lisa Moore, one of Newfoundland and Labrador's most celebrated authors and a past Giller nominee, said it was a thrill to see local talent recognized.

"It's really exciting to see Joel on that list." Moore said. "He's such a hilarious writer and dark at the same time. His writing is vibrant and alive and captures voice here, so that's pretty exciting."

The short list will be unveiled Oct.2in Toronto, and the big prize will be awarded Nov. 20in a ceremony to be aired on CBC television, radio and online.

The complete 2017long list.

• David Chariandy for his novel Brother, published by McClelland & Stewart;
• Rachel Cusk for her novel Transit, published by HarperCollins;
• David Demchuk for his novel The Bone Mother, published by ChiZine Publications;
• Joel Thomas Hynes for his novel We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, published by HarperPerennial, an imprint of HarperCollins;
• Andre A. Michaud for her novel Boundary, published by Biblioasis International Translation Series, translated by Donald Winkler;
• Josip Novakovich for his story collection Tumbleweed, published by Esplanade Books/Vhicule Press;
• Ed O'Loughlin for his novel Minds of Winter, published by House of Anansi Press
• Zoey Leigh Peterson for her novel Next Year, For Sure, published by Doubleday Canada
• Michael Redhill for his novel Bellevue Square, published by Doubleday Canada
• Eden Robinson for her novel Son of a Trickster, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
• Deborah Willis for her story collection The Dark and Other Love Stories, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada
• Michelle Winters for her novel I Am a Truck, published by Invisible Publishing