Jordan Abel's novel Empty Spaces among $25K Governor General's Literary Award winners
The awards recognize the best in Canadian books across seven categories in both English and French
Nisga'a writer Jordan Abel has won the 2024 Governor General's Literary Awards for fiction for his novel Empty Spaces.
Empty Spaces is among the 14 titles, seven in English and seven in French, that were acknowledged by the Governor General's Literary Awards as the best books of the year.
The prizes, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are awarded in seven English-language categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature — text, young people's literature — illustration, drama and French-to-English translation.
French-language awards are also given out in the same categories. A total of $450,000 is awarded across all the prizes annually.
The winner in each category will receive $25,000. The remaining finalists will each receive $1,000.
Books published between Aug. 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 were eligible for the 2024 awards. The finalists and winners are chosen by a peer assessment committee for each category.
Abel is nominated in the fiction category for his novel Empty Spaces, a reimagining of James Fenimore Cooper's 19th-century text The Last of the Mohicans from a modern urban perspective. Abel explores what it means to be Indigenous without access to familial territory and complicates popular understandings about Indigenous storytelling.
"All Indigenous literature is in some ways in resistance, in part because Indigenous peoples weren't meant to survive," said Abel in an interview on The Next Chapter. "So our writing, our livelihoods, our works are in resistance to colonial nation states already."
Writer and educator Niigaan Sinclair won the nonfiction category for his book Wînipêk, which explores reconciliation centred around Winnipeg, its history and people.
Winnipeg-based poet, editor and lawyer Chimwemwe Undi won the poetry category for her collection Scientific Marvel, which looks into the history of and current life in Winnipeg. With humour and surprise, it delves into deeper themes of racism, queerness and colonialism while keeping personal lived experiences close to the page.
There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow, a play about a woman's friendship with a talking crow, by Caleigh Crow, won the drama category.
B.C. writer Li Charmaine Anne won the young people's literature — text category for their YA novel Crash Landing while writer Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrator Todd Stewart won the young people's literature — illustrated books category for their picture book Skating Wild on an Inland Sea.
Nights Too Short to Dance, written by Marie-Claire Blais and translated by Katia Grubisic won the award for French-to-English translation.
The Governor General's Literary Awards were created in 1936. Past winners include Thomas King, Madeleine Thien, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a partner of the CBC Literary Prizes. The CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January, the CBC Poetry Prize will open in April and the CBC Short Story Prize opened in September.
Keep reading to learn more about the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award English-language winners.
Fiction: Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel
Empty Spaces is a reimagining of James Fenimore Cooper's book The Last of the Mohicans from a modern urban perspective. Abel explores what it means to be Indigenous without access to familial territory and complicates popular understandings about Indigenous storytelling.
Abel is a Nisga'a writer from British Columbia. He is also the author of the poetry collections The Place of Scraps, Un/inhabited and Injun. In 2017, he won the Griffin Poetry Prize for Injun. Empty Spaces was also nominated for the 2024 Amazon First Novel Award.
The peer assessment committee was Chris Eaton, francesca ekwuyasi and Jen Ferguson.
Nonfiction: Wînipêk by Niigaan Sinclair
Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre is the story of Winnipeg, told in a series of essays through the lens of Indigenous resilience and reconciliation.
From the Indian Act and atrocities of colonialism to the creativity and ferocity of the Indigenous peoples preserving their heritage, Sinclair illustrates the way a place — how we love, lose and fight for it — can help pave the way for the future of an entire country.
Niigaan Sinclair is an Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) thinker and assistant professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He has written for The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama, The Guardian and CBC Books and is a regular contributor on APTN, CTV and CBC News. Sinclair is also the editor of The Debwe Series and the author and co-editor of award-winning Manitowapow and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies.
Poetry: Scientific Marvel by Chimwemwe Undi
Scientific Marvel is a poetry collection that looks into the history of and current life in Winnipeg. With humour and surprise, it delves into deeper themes of racism, queerness and colonialism while keeping personal lived experiences close to the page.
Chimwemwe Undi is a Winnipeg-based poet, editor and lawyer. She is the Winnipeg Poet Laureate for 2023 and 2024. Undi was longlisted for the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize. She won the 2022 John Hirsch Emerging Writer Award from the Manitoba Book Awards and her work can be found in Brick, Border Crossings, Canadian Literature and BBC World, among others.
The peer assessment committee is Kathryn Mockler, Heather Nolan and Tolu Oloruntoba.
Drama: There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow by Caleigh Crow
There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow is a play that tells the story of Beth, a grocery store clerk who recently lost her job. Just when she's beginning to spiral, she becomes friends with a talking crow and reconnects with her true power.
Caleigh Crow is a queer Métis theatre artist from northeast Calgary. She is the co-founder and artistic lead of Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre.
The peer assessment committee is Kevin Kerr, Marcia Johnson and Kamila Sediego.
Young people's literature — text: Crash Landing by Li Charmaine Anne
In the summer of 2010, Jay Wong is desperate to make some worthy memories before her senior year comes to close, whether that be landing a kickflip or meeting someone new. Enter Ash Chan with a skateboard, a secret and a competition they need Jay's help filming a submission for. Crash Landing tells Jay's story as she navigates her immigrant community in Vancouver and a newfound friendship that's becoming something more.
Li Charmaine Anne is a writer with a BFA from the University of British Columbia in creative writing and English literature. Crash Landing is their debut novel.
Young people's literature — illustrated books: Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Todd Stewart
Skating Wild on an Inland Sea is about two children discovering the magic of skating on wild ice. It also won the 2024 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
Pendziwol lives in Northwestern Ontario and is the author of eight children's books including When I Listen to Silence, illustrated by Carmen Mok; I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, illustrated by Nathalie Dion; and Once Upon a Northern Night, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.
Stewart is a Montreal-based illustrator and printmaker. His picture book The Wind in the Trees (Quand le vent souffle), was a nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Governor General's Literary Award.
Translation: Nights Too Short to Dance by Marie-Claire Blais, translated by Katia Grubisic
René is finally feeling his age in the novel Nights Too Short to Dance. He wants nothing more but to continue to dress elegantly and be independent but those days are long gone. René is visited by old friends and together they reminisce about everything from past loves to tragedies and fights. The old friends find comfort and hope in each other's presence as they fight to live on their own terms.
Marie-Claire Blais was often lauded as one of Quebec's greatest writers. Her latest novel is The Acacia Gardens. She was the winner of numerous awards including the Médicis Prize, the W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize, four Governor General's Literary Awards and two Guggenheim Fellowships. She died in 2021.
Katia Grubisic is a writer, editor and translator. She has been a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for translation and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Her collection of poems What if red ran out won the Gerald Lampert award for best first book.
