1987 Governor General's Awards

Each winner of the 1987 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit nominally increased in number from 8 in 1986 to 14 in 1987, with the addition of four awards for children's book writing and illustration and two awards for translation.^[1] The four Children's Literature awards, however, were simply the four annual Canada Council Children's Literature Prizes (1975 to 1986) under a new name.^[2]

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

• M.T. Kelly, A Dream Like Mine

Other Finalists:

• David Gurr, The Ring Master
• Rohinton Mistry, Tales from Firozsha Baag
• Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
• Carol Shields, Swann: A Mystery

Poetry

Winner:

• Gwendolyn MacEwen, Afterworlds

Other Finalists:

• Di Brandt, Questions I Asked My Mother
• Roy Kiyooka, Pear Tree Pomes
• Sharon Thesen, The Beginning of the Long Dash

Drama

Winner:

• John Krizanc, Prague

Other Finalists:

• Wendy Lill, The Occupation of Heather Rose
• Michael D.C. McKinlay, Walt and Roy
• Sharon Pollock, Whiskey Six Cadenza

Non-Fiction

Winner:

• Michael Ignatieff, The Russian Album

Other Finalists:

• Janice Kulyk Keefer, Under Eastern Eyes
• P. K. Page, Brazilian Journal

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• Morgan Nyberg, Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army

Other Finalists:

• Welwyn Wilton Katz, False Face
• Donn Kushner, A Book Dragon
• Russell McRae, Going to the Dogs

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Marie-Louise Gay, Rainy Day Magic

Other Finalists:

• John Bianchi, Exploring the Night Sky
• László Gál, The Enchanted Tapestry
• Shawn Steffler, Flights of Magic

Translation (French to English)

Winner:

• Patricia Claxton, Enchantment and Sorrow: The Autobiography of Gabrielle Roy

Other Finalists:

• Sheila Fischman, Heartbreaks Along the Road
• Anthony Martin-Sperry, Languages and Their Territories
• Patricia Sillers, The Dragon and Other Laurentian Tales

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Gilles Archambault, L'obsédante obèse et autres agressions

Other Finalists:

• André Major, L'Hiver au coeur
• Jacques Marchand, Premier mouvement
• Francine Noël, Myriam première

Poetry

Winner:

• Fernand Ouellette, Les Heures

Other Finalists:

• Hugues Corriveau, Mobiles
• Normand de Bellefeuille, Heureusement, ici il y à la guerre
• Gérald Godin, Ils ne demandaient qu'à brûler

Drama

Winner:

• Jeanne-Mance Delisle, Un oiseau vivant dans la gueule

Other Finalists:

• Suzanne Aubry, La Nuit des p'tits couteaux
• Marie Laberge, Oublier
• Michel Tremblay, Le vrai monde?

Non-Fiction

Winner:

• Jean Larose, La petite noirceur

Other Finalists:

• Lise Bissonnette, La passion du présent
• Marcel Trudel, Mémoire d'un autre siècle

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• David Schinkel and Yves Beauchesne, Le Don

Other Finalists:

• Ginette Anfousse, Les catastrophes de Rosalie
• Denis Côté, Nocturnes pour Jessie
• Vincent Lauzon, Le pays à l'envers

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Darcia Labrosse, Venir au monde

Other Finalists:

• Hélène Desputeaux, Bonne fête Madeleine
• Stéphane Poulin, Les animaux en hiver
• Gilles Tibo, Annabel Lee

Translation (English to French)

Winner:

• Ivan Steenhout and Christiane Teasdale, L'Homme qui se croyait aimé

Other Finalists:

• Jean-Pierre Fournier, Jacob Deux-Deux et le dinosaure
• Ivan Steenhout, La couleur du sang
• Claudine Vivier, La Dialectique de la reproduction

References

1. "Governor General's Literary Awards" [table of winners]. online guide to writing in canada (track0.com/ogwc). Retrieved 2015-08-06.
2. "Canada Council Children's Literature Awards" [for English-language books].
     "Canada Council Children's Literature in French Awards".
   online guide to writing in canada (track0.com/ogwc). Retrieved 2015-08-06.