2012 Governor General's Literary Awards

Laureate in Children's Literature - Text: With Un été d’amour et de cendres, Aline Apostolska takes readers into the chaotic socio-political context of a Tibetan enclave in northern India, with the only references being the dramatic tale of first love. A powerful novel in sensitive, spare and uncompromising language.

Vice-Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts Simon Brault also said a few words. In addition to the monetary award, each laureate receives a specially bound copy of the winning book, created by Montréal bookbinder Lise Dubois.

Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts Joseph Rotman delivered a speech. The Governor General’s Literary Awards, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are Canada’s oldest and most prestigious awards for English- and French-language Canadian literature.

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, accompanied by his wife, Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, presented the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on November 28, 2012. "You are the thinkers and dreamers, but you are so much more. You help to shape our literary landscape and encourage all Canadians to immerse themselves in the simple pleasure of books."

Laureate in Fiction: A historical novel about race, religion and family, Linda Spalding’s The Purchase is refreshingly free of retrospective judgment. Told in warm, dignified prose, the novel concerns a shunned Quaker man who moves his family to slave-holding Virginia. Out of misplaced compassion, he buys a slave boy at an auction, forever changing many lives.

Laureate in Fiction: A fine and ambitious project, Pour sûr by France Daigle is a masterful work that dazzles. This Rubik’s cube of a novel allows for multiple digressions on the French language and its variations. Chiac (Acadian French), the star of this monumental novel, opens a door that is essential to understanding the Acadian identity.

Laureate in Non-Fiction: Leonardo and the Last Supper is a combination of brilliant storytelling and superlative writing. Ross King portrays the towering genius of Leonardo in a way that will engage experts and delight a general audience. Impeccable research delivered with a novelist’s panache.

Laureate in Non-Fiction: Normand Chaurette’s Comment tuer Shakespeare is a personal essay from a poetic stylist and an original voice that reveals the hand-to-hand combat between the translator and a monumental literary figure. The author adeptly underscores the pleasures and challenges of translation, as well as the metaphorical murder this creative process entails.

Laureate in Drama: In It is Solved by Walking, a poetic deconstruction of Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” Catherine Banks creates a singular and inspired love story that is also a meditation on the need to give full expression to the complexity of one’s inner life.

Laureate in Drama: Geneviève Billette’s Contre le temps succeeds, with 19th-century mathematician Évariste Galois, in echoing highly contemporary questions and delving into the intimate to reach the universal. The author creates tremendous hope in the midst of troubled times.

Laureate in Poetry: Monkey Ranch by Julie Bruck leaps about the ordinary world with a deft detachment and flexible artistry, guiding us with its offbeat, caring and companionable sensibility. “There’s enough light to see by,” says Julie Bruck, even though the children turn their eyes away. This humane voice, quirky and patient, will see you through a world stripped of miracles.

Laureate in Poetry: Author Maude Smith Gagnon displays a lovely grasp of language through well-crafted narrative touches. In a spare, minimalist, Oriental-like form, Un drap. Une place. pays homage to the intensity of being. Bit by bit, her words permeate memory and absence, welcoming the most seemingly insignificant event in the world as the advent of great things.

Laureate in English Translation: What Nigel Spencer has achieved with the translation of Marie Claire Blais’s Mai au bal des prédateurs is nothing short of brilliance. He has met the formidable challenge of conveying in English the complexity and richness of this narrative with a mastery that is stunning in its range of colour and tone.

Laureate in French Translation: It took courage and endurance to tackle this demanding work. The translator, Alain Roy, has consistently shown concern for concision and precision without ever sacrificing the subtleties of the contents. This masterful translation of Glenn Gould is obviously grounded in extensive research, making it a wonderfully lucid read.

Laureate in Children's Literature - Illustration: Isabelle Arsenault’s Virginia Wolf is an imaginative journey into the world of children’s dreams and creativity. This delightfully whimsical and tactile book has the feeling of children’s sidewalk drawings. Through her unique style, the illustrator merges fantasy, emotions and inspiration.

Laureate in Children's Literature - Illustration: In a style that resembles a retro advertising design, Élise Gravel questions consumer culture by creating a story and characters that are simple, fun and lively. Filled with absurd objects and sly criticisms, La clé à molette is colourful, coherent and original.

Laureate in Children's Literature - Text: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen is an engaging grief story. Thought-provoking and relevant, it addresses the effects of bullying in a realistic, compelling and compassionate way, exemplifying the adage “There are two sides to every story.” Henry’s journey is moving and weirdly, wildly funny.

Photo of Their Excellencies and the 2012 Governor General's Literary Awards laureates.