Book Awards Roundup

Nobel Prize for Literature
Big news! Mario Vargas Llosa is the 2010 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature for, according to Nobelprize.org " his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

The 2009 winner was Herta Muller

Scotiabank Giller shortlist has been announced. The winner of Canada's biggest $$$ prize will be revealed on November 9th. In the meantime you can play Guess the Giller for some great prizes including two tickets to the Giller Gala Event.

The Matter With Morris by David Bergen
Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod
This Cake is for the Party by Sarah Selecky
The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud
Annabel by Kathleen Winter

The 2009 Winner was The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre

Thurber Prize for American Humor recognizes humour writing in the United States. This year's winner is How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely.

"What Pete Tarslaw wants is simple enough: a realistic amount of fame that will open new avenues of sexual opportunity; the kind of financial comfort that will allow him to spend his life pursuing hobbies such as boating or skeet shooting at his stately home by the ocean or a scenic lake; and—perhaps mostly importantly—the chance to humiliate his ex-girlfriend at her wedding. This is the story of how he succeeds in getting it all, and what it costs him in the end." - publisher

Bob Edwards Award (who's Bob, you ask?) Bob Edwards was a Western Canadian entrepreneurial newsman and politician. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: "Throughout his life, Bob Edwards used humour and satire to advocate social change. Sympathetic to the poor, he spoke out against political corruption, exposed swindlers and fraudulent real estate salesmen, and favoured law reform, relaxed divorce laws, and Canadian nationalism. In his time he was the best-known journalist in the Canadian west." The award is given to the writer who best personifies Edwards' values. This year's winner is Lawrence Hill .

Toronto Book Awards shortlist has been announced. "Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, The Toronto Book Awards honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto."

The Prince of Neither Here Nor There by Sean Cullne
Valentine's Fall by Cary Fagan
Where We Have to Go by Lauren Kirshner
The Carnivore by Mark Sinnett
Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic

The 2009 winner was More by Austin Clarke