08 Nov 2005
Toronto, ON (November 8, 2005) - David Bergen has been named the 2005 winner of The Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada’s premier literary prize for fiction, for his novel, The Time In Between, published by McClelland & Stewart. The announcement was made at a gala dinner and award ceremony that drew more than 450 members of the publishing, media and arts communities. Hosted by Seamus O’Regan, The Scotiabank Giller Prize was broadcast live on talktv and will be seen later tonight on CTV at 1:05 a.m. ET. The telecast will air again tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. ET on CTV as well as Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. ET on CTV (check local listings).
The largest annual prize for fiction in the country, The Scotiabank Giller Prize awards $40,000 each year to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $2,500 to each of the finalists. A shortlist of five authors and their books was announced on September 28, 2005. Those finalists were:
Joan Barfoot for her novel, Luck, published by Knopf Canada
David Bergen for his novel, The Time In Between, published by McClelland & Stewart
Camilla Gibb for her novel, Sweetness in the Belly, published by Doubleday Canada
Lisa Moore for her novel, Alligator, published by House of Anansi Press
Edeet Ravel for her novel, A Wall of Light, published by Random House Canada
Selected by a distinguished jury panel comprised of writers Warren Cariou, Elizabeth Hay and Richard B. Wright, the finalists were chosen from 94 eligible books from all regions of the country.
Of the winning book, the jury remarked: “The Time in Between explores our need to understand the relationship between love and duty. Nearly thirty years after the end of the Vietnam War, Charles Boatman, a former soldier, travels from British Columbia to Danang in an attempt to come to terms with an incident from the war that continues to haunt him. When he vanishes, his son and daughter embark on their own journey to find him, and both are soon drawn into the complex and enigmatic culture of contemporary Vietnam. This is a subtle and elegantly written novel by an author in complete command of his talent.”
David Bergen is the author of three highly-acclaimed novels: A Year of Lesser, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award: See the Child; and most recently The Case of Lena S., winner of the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.
During tonight’s award ceremony, a roster of celebrity presenters - Adrienne Clarkson, Vicki Gabereau, Sarah Harmer, Sheila McCarthy, Noah Richler, Sarah Slean and Pamela Wallin – read the jury remarks, introduced video profiles of the short-listed authors, and presented each of them with a leather bound copy of their book.
This year ushered in some key changes for The Giller Prize. On September 22, 2005, Jack Rabinovitch and Rick Waugh, President and CEO of Scotiabank announced that the bank would become the first ever co-sponsor of Canada’s richest literary award for fiction. Under the new agreement, the prize became known as The Scotiabank Giller Prize. The purse doubled, growing to Cdn $50,000 with $40,000 going to the winner, and $2,500 being given to each of the four finalists. Also new for this year, CTV has become the exclusive broadcast partner for The Scotiabank Giller Prize through 2007.
The Giller Light
Also on November 8th – and for the 4th year in a row – Frontier College hosted The Giller Light at its old stomping ground The Steam Whistle Brewery. Their goal is to raise funds to help children and youth improve their reading and writing skills through an expansion of Frontier College’s Homework Clubs and its after-school literacy program for inner-city students. To date, the Giller Light has raised over $40,000 for Frontier College. Please visit www.gillerlight.ca for more information.
Public Library Promotion
As it has for the past three years, the Prize partnered with public libraries across the country for the ‘Guess the Giller’ promotion. A pilot project with the Toronto Public Library in 2003 launched the promotion, which now runs in over 10 libraries across Canada. Winning entries receive a complete set of the current year’s short-listed titles.
Scotiabank
Scotiabank is running a contest called “Pick the Giller” in more than 950 branches across Canada. Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2004 the Bank provided more than $33 million in sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives, primarily in the areas of healthcare, education and social services. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web at www.scotiabank.com.
CTV
CTV, Canada’s largest private broadcaster offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It boasts the number-one national newscast, CTV News With Lloyd Robertson and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television stations across Canada and has interests in 14 speciality channels, including the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, Canada’s premier multi-media company. More information about CTV may be found on the company Web site at www.ctv.ca
For more news about the prize, including past winners, jury members and short-listed authors, please visit www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca
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For further information:=
The Scotiabank Giller Prize:
Please contact: Elana Rabinovitch 416.934.0755
CTV
Please contact: Emily Young Lee 416.332.7367
Scotiabank:
Please contact: Joe Konecny 416.933.1795