TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2013 /CNW/ - Jack Rabinovitch, founder of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, today announced the award-winning, three-member jury panel for the 2013 prize. They are: Canadian authors Margaret Atwood and Esi Edugyan, and American writer Jonathan Lethem.

Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees throughout her distinguished career. She is the author of more than fifty volumes of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and many of her titles have been adapted to theatre, opera, television, and film. Her best known novels include THE EDIBLE WOMAN, THE HANDMAID'S TALE, THE ROBBER BRIDE and the 1996 Giller Prize-winning novel ALIAS GRACE. THE BLIND ASSASSIN won the 2000 Man Booker Prize and ORYX AND CRAKE was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2003. Ms. Atwood's most recent collection is IN OTHER WORLDS: SF AND THE HUMAN IMAGINATION. Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Esi Edugyan's most recent novel, HALF BLOOD BLUES, won the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2012 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. The novel was a finalist for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, the 2012 Orange Prize, the 2011 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, and the 2011 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Her debut novel, THE SECOND LIFE OF SAMUEL TYNE, was published internationally to critical acclaim. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Best New American Voices 2003. Edugyan has held fellowships in the U.S., Scotland, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Spain and Belgium. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with her husband and daughter.

Jonathan Lethem is the author of eight novels, including GIRL IN LANDSCAPE and THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE. He is the recipient of the 1999 National Book Critic's Circle Award and the 2000 Macallan Gold Dagger Award for MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. His story collection, THE WALL OF THE SKY, THE WALL OF THE EYE, received the 1997 World Fantasy Award. His writing has been translated into over thirty languages. Lethem has also published his stories and essays in The New Yorker, Harper's, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and the New York Times. His ninth novel, DISSIDENT GARDENS, will be published in October of this year. Jonathan Lethem lives with his family in Los Angeles and Maine.

(**Media note: high-res photos of the jury are available at Scotiabankgillerprize.ca/media **)

Kobo Inc. has generously donated a Kobo Glo eReader to each member of the 2013 jury panel. The Scotiabank Giller Prize encourages publishers to provide digital copies of its submitted titles in addition to print books.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist will be announced on September 16, 2013. This year's shortlist will be announced at a press conference in Toronto the second week of October. The winner will be named at a black-tie dinner and awards ceremony at Toronto's Ritz-Carlton on Tuesday, November 5, 2013.

The 2013 submission package is now available at Scotiabankgillerprize.ca/submissions

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad, through our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank Bright Future.  Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has provided on average approximately $47 million annually to community causes around the world over each of the last five years. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

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 award was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. In September 2005, Scotiabank became the first ever co-sponsor of Canada's richest literary award for fiction.  Under the agreement, the prize became known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize. 
The prize is now in its 20th year.

SOURCE: Scotiabank - Sponsorships & Donations