CBC Radio's Matt Galloway hosted the special event. Jury members Lawrence Hill, Jeet Heer, Samantha Harvey, Kathleen Winter and Alan Warner were on hand to announce the 2016 finalists and read a citation for each title.

The six titles were chosen from a longlist of 12 books announced on September 7, 2016. One hundred and sixty-one titles were submitted by 69 publisher imprints from every region of the country.

The books shortlisted for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize are:

• Mona Awad for her novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, published by Penguin Canada
• Gary Barwin for his novel Yiddish for Pirates, published by Random House Canada
• Emma Donoghue for her novel The Wonder, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Catherine Leroux for her novel The Party Wall, published by Biblioasis International Translation Series, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
• Madeleine Thien for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
• Zoe Whittall for her novel The Best Kind of People, published by House of Anansi Press Inc.

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize gala, hosted by Steve Patterson, will air on CBC and be live-streamed at CBCBooks.ca on Monday, November 7 at 9 p.m. (10 AT/10:30 NT).

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist books are available in accessible format for print-disabled Canadians through both the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). NNELS (nnels.ca) and CELA (celalibrary.ca) provide a digital library of accessible format books for Canadians with perceptual disabilities, made available through Canada's public library network.

PARTNERSHIPS AND EVENTS:
In a new and exclusive partnership with World Literacy Canada (WLC), the winner of the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize will appear in the WLC 2017 Kama Reading Series. WLC (worldlit.ca) has over 60 years of experience serving women and children in an effort to reduce poverty through literacy.

The winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize will be given an opportunity to explore, expand, and develop their practice during a two-week, self-directed residency in Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity's exclusive Leighton Artists' Colony. Banff Centre is Canada's leading destination for arts training and is located in the heart of Banff National Park. (banffcentre.ca)

To celebrate this year's shortlisted authors, we will present a series of special readings in Halifax on October 14, Vancouver on October 17, and Toronto on November 6. 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 2016 shortlist. For venue and ticket information, please visit: www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/news-events/events-and-important-dates/

About the Prize
The Scotiabank Giller Prize strives to highlight the very best in Canadian fiction year after year. The prize awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994 by her husband, Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch. Visit us at www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca

About Scotiabank
Through our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off 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 more than 88,000 employees and assets of $907 billion (as at July 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada's trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

About Banff Centre
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus -- artists, leaders, and thinkers -- to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to society through cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, world-class performances, and public outreach. www.banffcentre.ca

About World Literacy Canada
World Literacy Canada is a registered charity with a successful 60 year record of educational development work in Canada and around the world. WLC employs a collaborative, community-led approach to program delivery with a focus on women and their children. The Kama Reading Series is WLC's annual event series held in support of its literacy programs. The series runs from January to May with one evening of readings per month, featuring Canada's most celebrated and most promising authors. 2017 marks the 25th anniversary year of the Kama Reading Series. Visit www.worldlit.ca for more information.

Image Available: 2016_Web_Shortlist_banner_Sept26-4cd165bdd2479efd924a50ec782ac59b.jpg 

Media enquiries: 

Elana Rabinovitch
Scotiabank Giller Prize
elana@scotiabankgillerprize.ca
T - 416 275 5418

Kristin McCleister
Public, Corporate and Government Affairs
Scotiabank
Kristin.mccleister@scotiabank.com
T - 416 933 0646