ST. JOHN'S, NL, Sept. 6, 2023 /CNW/ - Twelve outstanding Canadian authors have been named to the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Kicking off the 30^th anniversary of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, last year's winner Suzette Mayr, announced the longlist today in St. John's to a crowd of booklovers, authors, and publishers.

The 12 titles were chosen from 145 books submitted by publishers across Canada, an all-time record number of submissions. 

The longlist for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

• David Bergen for his novel Away From the Dead, published by Goose Lane Editions
• Sarah Bernstein for her novel Study For Obedience, published by Knopf Canada
• Eleanor Catton for her novel Birnam Wood, published by McClelland & Stewart
• Kevin Chong for his novel The Double Life of Benson Yu, published by Simon & Schuster
• Nina Dunic for her novel The Clarion, published by Invisible Publishing
• Erum Shazia Hasan for her novel We Meant Well, published by ECW Press
• Dionne Irving for her short story collection, The Islands: Stories, published by Catapult Press
• Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer for her novel Wait Softly Brother, published by Wolsak & Wynn
• Menaka Raman-Wilms for her novel The Rooftop Garden, published by Nightwood Editions
• CS Richardson for his novel All The Colour in the World, published by Knopf Canada
• Kasia Van Schaik for her short story collection We Have Never Lived on Earth, published by The University of Alberta Press
• Deborah Willis for her novel Girlfriend on Mars, published by Hamish Hamilton

The longlist was selected by an esteemed panel of five judges: Canadian authors Ian Williams (jury chair, 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner), Sharon Bala, Brian Thomas Isaac, American author Rebecca Makkai and British-Indian writer Neel Mukherjee.

Each judge was given access to a complimentary Audible.ca account, providing an opportunity to listen to the submissions that were available on Audible's service. Kobo provided the jury with Kobo Sage devices to aid them on their reading journey.

Of the longlist, the jury wrote:

"The 2023 Scotiabank Giller longlist features a party of Canadian literature! Short story collections mingle with novels, established writers with emerging ones. Writers from various parts of the country and beyond its borders share the list together. They discuss family, friendships, the climate crisis, war, privilege, good intentions. Neat, quiet, intimate, introverted stories of relationships brush against loud messy globetrotting stories. These books made the jury think about them long afterward; sometimes they haunted us, sometimes they were like earworms we couldn't stop singing. Stylistically, they dressed up, they stripped down. They were drunk with life, they were sobering. They pushed pleasure on us even while they occasionally provoked and puzzled us. This longlist is unafraid of being censored or misunderstood. The writers ask for our patience and sophistication; they stand up against all threats, AI included, and remind us of the unmatchable power of the human imagination."

Quotes

"The jury read thoughtfully with full hearts and tremendous engagement to create this year's longlist of 12 authors. They consumed 145 books, wading through different worlds, voices and generations and decided these books and these writers worthy of the highest recognition and recommendation. I thank them for a difficult job exceedingly well done and offer the finalists my heartiest congratulations."
- Elana Rabinovitch, Executive Director, Scotiabank Giller Prize

"On the 30th anniversary of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Scotiabank is proud to celebrate Canada's best and most exciting storytellers who open our minds and captivate our imagination with their inspiring work. Congratulations to such an outstanding and diverse group of Canadian authors."
- Laura Curtis Ferrera, Chief Marketing Officer, Scotiabank

Visit the Scotiabank Giller Prize's Facebook and YouTube channels to watch a replay of the longlist announcement.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist will be announced on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. ET. Watch the live stream on Facebook.

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Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists will take you inside the minds and creative lives of the writers on the 2023 shortlist. All venues are wheelchair accessible. Travel for the BTP tour has been generously provided by The Azrieli Foundation.

• Vancouver – October 16
• Ottawa – October 18
• Halifax – November 2
• Toronto – November 7

For more information, please visit: scotiabankgillerprize.ca/btp.

Watch the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize broadcast on Monday, November 13 at 9 p.m. ET (11:30 p.m. AT, 12 a.m. NT) on CBC TV and the free CBC Gem streaming service, with a livestream also available on cbcbooks.ca/gillerprize. Listeners can tune into a broadcast special on CBC Radio One and CBC Listen. The host will be revealed at the shortlist announcement on October 11, 2023.

About the Prize
Founded by Jack Rabinovitch in 1994, the Giller Prize is Canada's leading and most influential literary prize for fiction. The Giller Effect has been recognized industry-wide as one of the top drivers of book sales in Canada. Scotiabank has been title sponsor since 2005. The Scotiabank Giller Prize now awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel, graphic novel or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honour of Jack Rabinovitch's wife, the late literary journalist, Doris Giller.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.4 trillion (as at July 31, 2023), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on X @Scotiabank.

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada's trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.

About Audible, Inc.
Audible is a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible.ca content includes more than 800,000 audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals. Audible has millions of members around the world who subscribe to one of 10 localized services designed for customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US. Audible members download nearly 4 billion hours of content annually and listen across a wide range of supported devices.

About The Azrieli Foundation
With a firm belief that everyone has a contribution to make, the Azrieli Foundation has been opening doors, breaking ground, and nurturing networks for more than 30 years. The Foundation – the largest non-corporate foundation in Canada – funds institutions and operates programs in Canada and Israel. For more information, please visit azrielifoundation.org.

SOURCE Scotiabank