TORONTO, Nov. 11 /CNW/ - The judges will announce their decision for the
2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize at the Gala reception this evening, but Canadians
have overwhelmingly selected Mary Swan's "The Boys in the Trees" as their
guess for the Giller. The most popular choice from the annual Guess the Giller
contest has also been the judge's choice for the past three years.
    "The Scotiabank Giller Prize helps us to celebrate this country's best
fiction writers, and enables us to recognize and reward the voices of both new
and established writers from across the country," said John Doig, Scotiabank
Senior Vice-President, Marketing. "We are very proud to work with Jack
Rabinovitch and his family to support the Scotiabank Giller Prize and bring
Canadians the annual Guess the Giller contest, giving Canadians a chance to
participate in this great literary event in support of Canadian arts and
culture."
    Guess The Giller was launched in 2003 together with the Toronto Public
Library. This year more than 30 public library systems, 175 bookstores -
including Chapters Indigo, post secondary schools, literary festivals and over
1000 Scotiabank branches, have promoted the contest to Canadian readers and
Chapters Indigo online has set up discussion forums for readers to debate and
deliberate the shortlist. The annual contest gives participants the chance to
win a trip for two to any Canadian literary festival of their choice and an
autographed Scotiabank Giller Prize book set, a package valued at $5,000. The
winning entrant will be contacted later this month.
    "It's astonishing what Scotiabank has accomplished with the Guess the
Giller contest," said Elana Rabinovitch, Administrator of the prize. "It was
truly 'the little contest that could' six years ago. Now, with Scotiabank's
help, it's brought the best of Canadian literature to a much wider audience
across the country."
    Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the Scotiabank Giller Prize awards
$50,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story
collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the finalists. The
Scotiabank Giller Prize is named in honour of the late literary journalist
Doris Giller and was founded in 1995 by her husband Toronto businessman Jack
Rabinovitch.

    Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live
and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader internationally
and among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and philanthropic
activities, in 2007 the Bank provided more than $43 million in sponsorships
and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives, primarily in the areas
of healthcare, education and social services and arts and culture. Please
visit us at www.scotiabank.com.