The Word On The Street Blog

Three authors who appeared at this year’s The Word On The Street festival have won Governor General’s Literary Awards: Rhonda Mullins has won in the French to English Translation category with Twenty-One Cardinals by Jocelyne Saucier; JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith have both won for their beautiful illustrated book Sidewalk Flowers. Congratulations to all of them, and the rest of the winners which are listed below.

Finalists and winners were selected from a total of 970 submissions. Each winner receives $25,000, presented by the Canada Council for the Arts, and are chosen by a committee of peers. On Decemeber 2 at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, the Governor General David Johnston will present the awards to the following winners:

• Fiction: Daddy Lenin and Other Stories by Guy Vanderhaeghe
• Poetry: My Shoes are Killing Me by Robyn Sarah
• Drama: carried away on the crest of a wave by David Yee
• Non-fiction: Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive by Mark L. Winston
• Children’s Literature (Text): The Gospel Truth by Caroline Pignat
• Children’s Literature (Illustrated Books): Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith
• Translation (from French to English): Twenty-One Cardinals by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins