It’s a very exciting time for book people this time of year. All the major prizes are announcing their long lists, or shortlists, or winners. Lots of great book chatter happening. I’ll sum things up as best I can.

In Canuckland (aka Canada), the three big literary prizes are: The Scotiabank Giller Prize, The Governor General’s Awards, and The Rogers’ Writer’s Trust Award. Both the GG’s and the Writer’s Trust awards have multiple categories (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.), while the Giller’s are specifically for fiction.

Here’s some more Canadian book award news:

  • The Giller’s announced their shortlist on October 5, whittled down from the longlist announced September 20. The Giller longlist included Room by Emma Donoghue, and the shortlist includes Annabel by Kathleen Winter. They’re also having a reader contest to Guess the Giller. The Giller winner will be announced on November 9, 2010.

  • The Canada Council for the Arts funds, administers and promotes the Governor General’s Awards. The GG’s have 14 categories (seven each in English and in French). The shortlist was announced on October 13 and the winners will be announced November 16, with award presentations on the 25th (with the Governor General present).
  • The Writer’s Trust Award shortlist for fiction includes both Emma Donoghue and Kathleen Winter. A selection of finalists will read at the International Festival of Authors on October 27 in Toronto.
  • CBC Literary Awards are for unpublished French and English books, the only award of it’s kind. Submissions close on November 1, 2010.
  • Speaking of deadlines, the deadline for the BC Book Prizes is December 1, 2010. Last year’s fiction winner was Having Faith in the Polar Girls’ Prison by Cathleen With, which I really liked.
  • And the deadline for Amazon.ca’s First Book Award is also November 1, 2010. Last year’s winner was Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant, which I reviewed and really enjoyed.
  • As I mentioned, CBC Radio’s Canada Reads is operating in a different format this year. Today they announced their Top 40 Essential Canadian Novels, which is the first part of their competition. It includes Come, Thou Tortoise, Room, and February. Oddly it didn’t include Annabel. Now, go vote for the Top 10 list (announced November 9th)

There is lots going on internationally too:

  • Submissions are still being read for the International 3-Day Novel Contest. They received a whopping 669 entries this year! Based out of Vancouver, BC, the 3-Day Novel Contest is run during the September long weekend. The winner will be announced in January.
  • The Man Booker Prize was awarded to Howard Jacobson on October 12, 2010. The shortlist had been announced September 7, 2010. Canadian writer Emma Donoghue was shortlisted for Room.
  • There is a new Danish literary award, the inaugural Hans Christian Andersen Literature Prize. It was awarded last week to J.K. Rowling, a whopping $95K… like she needed the money.
  • Finalists for the National Book Award (USA) were announced on October 13, 2010.

If you want more information on Literary Prizes (both Canadian and internationally), I highly suggest you visit CanLitAwards.com. Fantastic, comprehensive, up-to-date database of literary awards.