1999 Governor General's Awards

The winners of the 1999 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, chairman, and Shirley Thomson, director of the Canada Council for the Arts, at a press conference held on November 16 at the National Library of Canada. Each winner received a cheque for CA$10,000.

English

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Matt Cohen, Elizabeth and After^[1]	Neil Bissoondath, The Worlds Within Her^[2] Anne Fleming, Pool-hopping and Other Stories^[2] Elyse Gasco, Can You Wave Bye Bye, Baby?^[2] Keith Maillard, Gloria^[2]
Non-fiction	Marq de Villiers, Water^[1]	Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder^[2] Michael Bliss, William Osler^[2] Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood^[2] Wayne Johnston, Baltimore's Mansion^[2]
Poetry	Jan Zwicky, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth^[1]	Lynn Davies, The Bridge that Carries the Road^[3] Susan Goyette, The True Names of Birds^[3] Richard Harrison, Big Breath of a Wish^[3] Terence Young, The Island in Winter^[3]
Drama	Michael Healey, The Drawer Boy^[1]	Wendy Lill, Corker^[3] Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge^[3] Colleen Murphy, Beating Heart Cadaver^[3] Theresa Tova, Still the Night^[3]
Children's literature	Rachna Gilmore, A Screaming Kind of Day^[4]	Don Gillmor, The Christmas Orange^[3] Graham McNamee, Hate You^[3] W.D. Valgardson, The Divorced Kids Club and Other Stories^[3] Frieda Wishinsky, Each One Special^[3]
Children's illustration	Gary Clement, The Great Poochini^[4]	Rose Cowles, I Know an Old Laddie^[3] Zhong-Yang Huang, Dragon New Year^[3] Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad: from the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights^[3] Werner Zimmermann, Brave Highland Heart^[3]
French to English translation	Patricia Claxton, Gabrielle Roy: A Life (François Ricard, Gabrielle roy, une vie)^[4]	David Homel, Olivo Oliva (Philippe Poloni, Olivo, Oliva)^[3] Nancy Huston, The Mark of the Angel (her own novel L'Empreinte de l'ange)^[3] Lazer Lederhendler, The Sparrow Has Cut the Day in Half (Claire Dé, Bonheur, Oiseau rare)^[3] Donald Winkler, The World of the Gift (Jacques Godbout and Alain Caillé, L'Esprit du don)^[3]

French

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Lise Tremblay, La Danse juive^[4]	Hugues Corriveau, Le Ramasseur de souffle Jacques Marchand, Les Vents dominants Carole Massé, L'Ennemi Gaétan Soucy, La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes
Non-fiction	Pierre Perrault, Le Mal du Nord^[1]	Anne Élaine Cliche, Dire le livre Jean-Claude Dubé, Le Chevalier de Montmagny: Premier gouverneur de la Nouvelle-France François-Marc Gagnon, Chronique du mouvement automatiste québécois 1941-1954 Daniel Jacques, Nationalité et Modernité
Poetry	Herménégilde Chiasson, Conversations^[4]	Claude Beausoleil, Le Chant du voyageur Nicole Brossard, Musée de l'os et de l'eau Carole David, La Maison d'Ophélie Pierre Ouellet, Dieu sait quoi
Drama	Jean-Marc Dalpé, Il n'y a que l'amour^[4]	Carole Fréchette, Les Sept Jours de Simon Labrosse René Gingras, D'Avila Michel Tremblay, Encore une fois, si vous permettez
Children's literature	Charlotte Gingras, La Liberté? Connais pas...^[4]	Agathe Génois, Adieu, vieux lézard! Andrée-Anne Gratton, Le Message du biscuit chinois Sylvie Nicolas, Célestine Motamo Raymond Plante, Marilou Polaire et l'iguane des neiges
Children's illustration	Stéphane Jorisch, Charlotte et l'île du destin^[4]	Nicole Lafond, Contes pour enfants Michèle Lemieux, Nuit d'orage Luc Melanson, La Petite Kim Pierre Pratt, La Vie exemplaire de Martha et Paul
English to French translation	Jacques Brault, Transfiguration (E. D. Blodgett, Transfiguration)^[4]	Charlotte Melançon, Réflexions d'un frère siamois (John Ralston Saul, Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century) Marie José Thériault, Ours (Marian Engel, Bear)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Matt Cohen wins G-G for an idea he 'wished he hadn't had'". The Globe and Mail, November 17, 1999.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "G-G awards shortlist gets shorter: Winners announced today". National Post, November 16, 1999.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "Nominee list". Hamilton Spectator, October 20, 1999.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Literary winners applaud cultural funding at Governor General's Awards". Waterloo Region Record, November 17, 1999.

[wishnot-1] "Matt Cohen wins G-G for an idea he 'wished he hadn't had'". The Globe and Mail, November 17, 1999.

[shorter-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "G-G awards shortlist gets shorter: Winners announced today". National Post, November 16, 1999.

[spec-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "Nominee list". Hamilton Spectator, October 20, 1999.

[applaud-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Literary winners applaud cultural funding at Governor General's Awards". Waterloo Region Record, November 17, 1999.

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v t e Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit
English-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1937–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration French to English translation
French-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1959–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration English to French translation
Awards by year	1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024