Toronto writer Linda Spalding among GG’s literary winners

Toronto writer Linda Spalding has won the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction for her book The Purchase.

The $25,000 prize was announced by the Canada Council for the Arts in Montreal on Tuesday.

The non-fiction prize went to Ross King for his book Leonardo and the Last Supper.

The Canada Council for the Arts, which sponsors the prize, looked at approximately 1,600 submitted books before narrowing the finalists down to 70.

Five authors are shortlisted in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation, in both English and French.

“The verdict is in, and it’s another great year for Canadian literature,” Robert Sirman, director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, said in a statement.

“The winning titles offer a wealth of reading options for Canadians of all ages, and demonstrate once again that Canada punches beyond its weight in the literary arena.”

Spalding beat out former Giller Prize-winner Vincent Lam for his novel The Headmaster’s Wager as well as fellow Toronto writer Robert Hough for his book Dr. Brinkley’s Tower.

The other two contenders for the fiction prize were Tamas Dobozy, for Siege 13, and Carrie Snyder, for The Juliet Stories.

Last year, Patrick deWitt won the fiction prize for his comic western The Sisters Brothers.

Click here to see the full list of winners.

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