Governor General's Literary Award Winners

Year

Author

Title

1936	Bertram Brooker	Think of the Earth
1937	Laura G. Salverson	The Dark Weaver
1938	Gwethalyn Graham	Swiss Sonata
1939	Franklin D. McDowell	The Champlain Road
1940	Ringuet (Philippe Panneton)	Thirty Acres (translation)
1941	Alan Sullivan	Three Came to Ville Marie
1942	G. Herbert Sallans	Little Man
1943	Thomas H. Raddall	The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek
1944	Gwethalyn Graham	Earth and High Heaven
1945	Hugh MacLennan	Two Solitudes
1946	Winifred Bambrick	Continental Revue
1947	Gabrielle Roy	The Tin Flute (translation)
1948	Hugh MacLennan	The Precipice
1949	Philip Child	Mr. Ames Against Time
1950	Germaine Guévremont	The Outlander (translation)
1951	Morley Callaghan	The Loved and the Lost
1952	David Walker	The Pillar
1953	David Walker	Digby
1954	Igor Gouzenko	The Fall of a Titan
1955	Lionel Shapiro	The Sixth of June
1956	Adele Wiseman	The Sacrifice
1957	Gabrielle Roy	Street of Riches (translation)
1958	Colin McDougall	Execution
1959	Hugh MacLennan	The Watch That Ends the Night
1960	Brian Moore	The Luck of Ginger Coffey
1961	Malcolm Lowry	Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place
1962	Kildare Dobbs	Running to Paradise
1963	Hugh Garner	Hugh Garner's Best Stories
1964	Douglas LePan	The Deserter
1965	No award
1966	Margaret Laurence	A Jest of God
1967	No award
1968	Alice Munro	Dance of the Happy Shades
	Mordecai Richler¹	Cocksure
	Mordecai Richler¹	Hunting Tigers Under Glass
1969	Robert Kroetsch	The Studhorse Man
1970	Dave Godfrey	The New Ancestors
1971	Mordecai Richler	St. Urbain's Horseman
1972	Robertson Davies	The Manticore
1973	Rudy Wiebe	The Temptations of Big Bear
1974	Margaret Laurence	The Diviners
1975	Brian Moore	The Great Victorian Collection
1976	Marian Engel	Bear
1977	Timothy Findley	The Wars
1978	Alice Munro	Who Do You Think You Are?
1979	Jack Hodgins	The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne
1980	George Bowering	Burning Water
1981	Mavis Gallant	Home Truths: Selected Canadian Stories
1982	Guy Vanderhaeghe	Man Descending
1983	Leon Rooke	Shakespeare's Dog
1984	Josef Svorecky	The Engineer of Human Souls
1985	Margaret Atwood	The Handmaid's Tale
1986	Alice Munro	The Progress of Love
1987	M. T. Kelly	A Dream Like Mine
1988	David Adams Richards	Nights Below Station Street
1989	Paul Quarrington	Whale Music
1990	Nino Ricci	Lives of the Saints
1991	Rohinton Mistry	Such a Long Journey
1992	Michael Ondaatje	The English Patient
1993	Carol Shields	The Stone Diaries
1994	Rudy Wiebe	A Discovery of Strangers
1995	Greg Hollingshead	The Roaring Girl
1996	Guy Vanderhaeghe	The Englishman's Boy
1997	Jane Urquhart	The Underpainter
1998	Diane Schoemperlen	Forms of Devotion
1999	Matt Cohen	Elizabeth and After
2000	Michael Ondaatje	Anil's Ghost
2001	Richard B. Wright	Clara Callan
2002	Gloria Sawai	A Song for Nettie Johnson
2003	Douglas Glover	Elle
2004	Miriam Toews	A Complicated Kindness
2005	David Gilmour	A Perfect Night to Go to China
2006	Peter Behrens	The Law of Dreams
2007	Michael Ondaatje	Divisadero
1. Award was given for 'Fiction and Essays.'

Year

Author

Title

1936	T. B. Robertson	T. B. R.
1937	Stephen Leacock	My Discovery of the West
1938	John Murray Gibbon	Canadian Mosaic
1939	Laura G. Salverson	Confessions of an Immigrant's Daughter
1940	J. F. C. Wright	Slava Bohu
1941	Emily Carr	Klee Wyck
1942	Bruce Hutchison	The Unknown Country
	Edgar McInnes	The Unguarded Frontier
1943	John D. Robins	The Incomplete Anglers
	E. K. Brown	On Canadian Poetry
1944	Dorothy Duncan	Partner in Three Worlds
	Edgar McInnes	The War: Fourth Year
1945	Evelyn M. Richardson	We Keep a Light
	Ross Munro	Gauntlet to Overlord
1946	Frederick Philip Grove	In Search of Myself
	A. R. M. Lower	Colony to Nation
1947	William Sclater	Haida
	R. MacGregor Dawson	The Government of Canada
1948	Thomas H. Raddall	Halifax: Warden of the North
	C. P. Stacey	The Canadian Army, 1939-1945
1949	Hugh MacLennan	Cross-Country
	R. MacGregor Dawson	Democratic Government in Canada
1950	Marjorie Wilkins Campbell	The Saskatchewan
	W. L. Morton	The Progressive Party in Canada
1951	Josephine Phelan	The Ardent Exile
	Frank MacKinnon	The Government of Prince Edward Island
1952	Bruce Hutchison	The Incredible Canadian
	Donald G. Creighton	John A. Macdonald: The Young Politician
1953	N. J. Berrill	Sex and the Nature of Things
	J. M. S. Careless	Canada: A Story of Challenge
1954	Hugh MacLennan	Thirty and Three
	A. R. M. Lower	This Most Famous Stream
1955	N. J. Berrill	Man's Emerging Mind
	Donald G. Creighton	John A. Macdonald: The Old Chieftan
1956	Pierre Berton	The Mysterious North
	Joseph Lister Rutledge	Century of Conflict
1957	Bruce Hutchison	Canada: Tomorrow's Giant
	Thomas H. Raddall	The Path of Destiny
1958	Pierre Berton	Klondike
	Joyce Hemlow	The History of Fanny Burney
1959	No award
1960	Frank H. Underhill	In Search of Canadian Liberalism
1961	T. A. Goudge	The Ascent of Life
1962	Marshall McLuhan	The Gutenberg Galaxy
1963	J. M. S. Careless	Brown of the Globe
1964	Phyllis Grosskurth	John Addington Symonds
1965	James Eayrs	In Defence of Canada
1966	George Woodcock	The Crystal Spirit: A Study of George Orwell
1967	Norah Story	The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature
1968	No award
1969	No award
1970	No award
1971	Pierre Berton	The Last Spike
1972	No award
1973	Michael Bell	Painters in a New Land
1974	Charles Ritchie	The Siren Years
1975	Marion MacRae and Anthony Adamson	Hallowed Walls
1976	Carl Berger	The Writing of Canadian History
1977	F. R. Scott	Essays on the Constitution
1978	Roger Caron	Go-Boy!
1979	Maria Tippett	Emily Carr: A Biography
1980	Jeffrey Simpson	Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration
1981	George Calef	Caribou and the Barren-Lands
1982	Christopher Moore	Louisbourg Portraits: Life in an Eighteenth-Century Garrison Town
1983	Jeffery Williams	Byng of Vimy: General and Governor General
1984	Sandra Gwyn	The Private Capital: Ambition and Love in the Age of Macdonald and Laurier
1985	Ramsey Cook	The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada
1986	Northrop Frye	Northrop Frye on Shakespeare
1987	Michael Ignatieff	The Russian Album
1988	Anne Collins	In the Sleep Room
1989	Robert Calder	Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham
1990	Stephen Clarkson and Christina McCall	Trudeau and Our Times
1991	Robert Hunter and Robert Calihoo	Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past
1992	Maggie Siggins	Revenge of the Land: A Century of Greed, Tragedy, and Murder on a Saskatchewan Farm
1993	Karen Connelly	Touch the Dragon
1994	John A. Livingston	Rogue Primate
1995	Rosemary Sullivan	Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen
1996	John Ralston Saul	The Unconscious Civilization
1997	Rachel Manley	Drumblair: Memories of a Jamaican Girlhood
1998	David Adams Richards	Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi
1999	Marq de Villiers	Water
2000	Nega Mezlekia	Notes from the Hyena's Belly
2001	Thomas Homer-Dixon	The Ingenuity Gap
2002	Andrew Nikiforuk	Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil
2003	Margaret MacMillan	Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
2004	Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire	Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
2005	John Vaillant	The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed
2006	Ross King	The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism
2007	Karolyn Smardz Frost	I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad

Year¹

Author

Title

1937	E. J. Pratt	The Fable of the Goats
1938	Kenneth Leslie	By Stubborn Stars
1939	Arthur S. Bourinot	Under the Sun
1940	E. J. Pratt	Brébeuf and His Brethren
1941	Anne Marriott	Calling Adventurers
1942	Earle Birney	David and Other Poems
1943	A. J. M. Smith	News of the Phoenix
1944	Dorothy Livesay	Day and Night
1945	Earle Birney	Now Is Time
1946	Robert Finch	Poems
1947	Dorothy Livesay	Poems for People
1948	A. M. Klein	The Rocking Chair and Other Poems
1949	James Reaney	The Red Heart
1950	James Wreford Watson	Of Time and the Lover
1951	Charles Bruce	The Mulgrave Road
1952	E. J. Pratt	Towards the Last Spike
1953	Douglas LePan	The Net and the Sword
1954	P. K. Page	The Metal and the Flower
1955	Wilfred Watson	Friday's Child
1956	Robert A. D. Ford	A Window on the North
1957	Jay Macpherson	The Boatman
1958	James Reaney	A Suit of Nettles
1959	Irving Layton	A Red Carpet for the Sun
1960	Margaret Avison	Winter Sun
1961	Robert Finch	Acis in Oxford
1962	James Reaney	Twelve Letters to a Small Town
	James Reaney	The Killdeer and Other Plays
1963	No award
1964	Raymond Souster	The Colour of the Times
1965	Alfred Purdy	The Cariboo Horses
1966	Margaret Atwood	The Circle Game
1967	Eli Mandel	An Idiot Joy
	Alden Nowlan	Bread, Wine, and Salt
1968	Leonard Cohen²	Selected Poems 1956-68
1969	George Bowering	Rocky Mountain Foot
	George Bowering	The Gangs of Kosmos
	Gwendolyn MacEwen	The Shadow-Maker
1970	Michael Ondaatje³	The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
	bp Nichol	Still Water
	bp Nichol	The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid
	bp Nichol	Beach Head
	bp Nichol	The Cosmic Chef: An Evening of Concrete
1971	John Glassco	Selected Poems
1972	Dennis Lee	Civil Elegies and Other Poems
	John Newlove	Lies
1973	Miriam Mandel	Lions at Her Face
1974	Ralph Gustafson	Fire on Stone
1975	Milton Acorn	The Island Means Minago
1976	Joe Rosenblatt	Top Soil
1977	D. G. Jones	Under the Thunder the Flowers Light up the Earth
1978	Patrick Lane	Poems New and Selected
1979	Michael Ondaatje	There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do
1980	Stephen Scobie	McAlmon's Chinese Opera
1981	F. R. Scott	The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott (poetry)
	Sharon Pollock	Blood Relations (drama)
1982	Phyllis Webb	The Vision Tree: Selected Poems (poetry)
	John Gray	Billy Bishop Goes to War, a Play by John Gray with Eric Peterson (drama)
1983	David Donnell	Settlements (poetry)
	Anne Chislett	Quiet in the Land (drama)
1984	Paulette Jiles	Celestial Navigation (poetry)
	Judith Thompson	White Biting Dog (drama)
1985	Fred Wah	Waiting for Saskatchewan (poetry)
	George F. Walker	Criminals in Love (drama)
1986	Al Purdy	The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (poetry)
	Sharon Pollock	Doc (drama)
1987	Gwendolyn MacEwen	Afterworlds (poetry)
	John Krizanc	Prague (drama)
1988	Erin Mouré	Furious (poetry)
	George F. Walker	Nothing Sacred (drama)
1989	Heather Spears	The Word for Sand (poetry)
	Judith Thompson	The Other Side of the Dark (drama)
1990	Margaret Avison	No Time (poetry)
	Ann-Marie MacDonald	Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (drama)
1991	Don McKay	Night Field (poetry)
	Joan MacLeod	Amigo's Blue Guitar (drama)
1992	Lorna Crozier	Inventing the Hawk (poetry)
	John Mighton	Possible Worlds (drama)
	John Mighton	A Short History of Night (drama)
1993	Don Coles	Forests of the Medieval World (poetry)
	Guillermo Verdecchia	Fronteras Americanas (drama)
1994	Robert Hilles	Cantos from a Small Room (poetry)
	Morris Panych	The Ends of the Earth (drama)
1995	Anne Szumigalski	Voice (poetry)
	Jason Sherman	Three in the Back, Two in the Head (drama)
1996	E. D. Blodgett	Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano (poetry)
	Colleen Wagner	The Monument (drama)
1997	Dionne Brand	Land to Light On (poetry)
	Ian Ross	fareWel (drama)
1998	Stephanie Bolster	White Stone: The Alice Poems (poetry)
	Djanet Sears	Harlem Duet (drama)
1999	Jan Zwicky	Songs for Relinquishing the Earth (poetry)
	Michael Healey	The Drawer Boy (drama)
2000	Don McKay	Another Gravity (poetry)
	Timothy Findley	Elizabeth Rex (drama)
2001	George Elliott Clarke	Execution Poems (poetry)
	Kent Stetson	The Harps of God (drama)
2002	Roy Miki	Surrender (poetry)
	Kevin Kerr	Unity (1918) (drama)
2003	Tim Lilburn	Kill-site (poetry)
	Vern Thiessen	Einstein's Gift (drama)
2004	Roo Borson	Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida (poetry)
	Morris Panych	Girl in the Goldfish Bowl (drama)
2005	Anne Compton	Processional (poetry)
	John Mighton	Half Life (drama)
2006	John Pass	Stumbling in the Bloom (poetry)
	Daniel MacIvor	I Still Love You (drama)
2007	Don Domanski	All Our Wonder Unavenged (poetry)
	Colleen Murphy	The December Man (drama)
1. From 1937 to 1980 a single award was given for Poetry or Drama. 2. Declined award. 3. Award given for 'Prose and Poetry.'

Year

Author

Title

1949	R. S. Lambert	Franklin of the Arctic
1950	Donald Dickie	The Great Adventure
1951	John F. Hayes	A Land Divided
1952	Marie McPhedran	Cargoes on the Great Lakes
1953	John F. Hayes	Rebels Ride at Night
1954	Marjorie Wilkins Campbell	The Nor'westers
1955	Kerry Wood	The Map-Maker
1956	Farley Mowat	Lost in the Barrens
1957	Kerry Wood	The Great Chief
1958	Edith L. Sharp	Nkwala
1959-1986	No award
1987	Marie-Louise Gay	Rainy Day Magic (illustration)
	Morgan Nyberg	Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army (text)
1988	Kim LaFave	Amos's Sweater (illustration)
	Welwyn Wilton Katz	The Third Magic (text)
1989	Robin Muller	The Magic Paintbrush (illustration)
	Diana Wieler	Bad Boy (text)
1990	Paul Morin	The Orphan Boy (illustration)
	Michael Bedard	Redwork (text)
1991	Joanne Fitzgerald	Doctor Kiss Says Yes (illustration)
	Sarah Ellis	Pick-Up Sticks (text)
1992	Ron Lightburn	Waiting for the Whales (illustration)
	Julie Johnston	Hero of Lesser Causes (text)
1993	Mireille Levert	Sleep Tight, Mrs. Ming (illustration)
	Tim Wynne-Jones	Some of the Kinder Planets (text)
1994	Murray Kimber	Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story (illustration)
	Julie Johnston	Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me (text)
1995	Ludmila Zeman	The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (illustration)