Scotiabank Giller Prize to award $100,000 to winning author at Toronto gala

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Literary luminaries will walk the red carpet tonight to mark a quarter-century of coronating Canada’s leading authors with the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Five authors are in the running for the $100,000 honour to be awarded at a glitzy gala at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto.

Victoria-based Esi Edugyan, nominated for “Washington Black” (Patrick Crean Editions), is hoping to secure the top prize after being a runner-up for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and Writers’ Trust fiction award this season.

Edugyan will face off against Patrick deWitt, author of “French Exit” (House of Anansi Press), whom she beat out to win the Giller in 2011.

Quebec author Eric Dupont has been shortlisted for “Songs for a Cold Heart” (QC Books), originally published in French, alongside the book’s translator Peter McCambridge.

Also making the cut are Sheila Heti for “Motherhood” (Knopf Canada) and Thea Lim with “An Ocean of Minutes” (Viking Canada).

Comedian Rick Mercer will host the night’s proceedings, which will be broadcast on CBC.

A five-member jury culled this year’s finalists from 104 titles submitted by publishers across the country.

The Giller 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 Canadian Press

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