1990 Governor General's Awards

Each winner of the 1990 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10000 and a specially bound edition of his or her book. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints

Other Finalists:

• Sky Lee, Disappearing Moon Café
• Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• Leslie Hall Pinder, On Double Tracks
• Diane Schoemperlen, Man of My Dreams

Poetry

Winner:

• Margaret Avison, No Time

Other Finalists:

• Dionne Brand, No Language Is Neutral
• Patrick Lane, Winter

Drama

Winner:

• Ann-Marie MacDonald, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)

Other Finalists:

• Audrey Butler, Black Friday?
• John Mighton, Scientific Americans
• George F. Walker, Love and Anger

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Stephen Clarkson & Christina McCall, Trudeau and Our Times

Other Finalists:

• Timothy Findley, Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook
• Eugene Forsey, A Life on the Fringe: The Memoirs of Eugene Forsey
• Ron Graham, God's Dominion: A Sceptic's Quest
• James King, The Last Modern: A Life of Herbert Read

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• Michael Bedard, Redwork

Other Finalists:

• Jan Andrews, The Auction
• Brian Doyle, Covered Bridge
• Welwyn Wilton Katz, Whale Singer

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Paul Morin, The Orphan Boy

Other Finalists:

• Warabé Aska, Seasons
• Frances Tyrrell, The Huron Carol

Translation (from French to English)

Winner:

• Jane Brierley, Yellow-Wolf and Other Tales of the Saint Lawrence

Other Finalists:

• Patricia Claxton, Letters to Bernadette
• Sheila Fischman, Benito
• Anthony Martin-Sperry, Charlevoix: Two Centuries at Murray Bay
• Susan Usher, Community Care and Participatory Research

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Gérald Tougas, La Mauvaise foi

Other Finalists:

• Louis Lefebvre, Le Collier d'Hurracan
• Michèle Mailhot, Le Passé composé
• Jean Marcel, Jérôme ou de la traduction
• France Vézina, Osther, le chat criblé d'étoiles

Poetry

Winner:

• Jean-Paul Daoust, Les Cendres bleues

Other Finalists:

• Geneviève Amyot, Corps d'atelier
• André Brochu, Dans les chances de l'air
• Denise Desautels, Leçons de Venise
• Joël Des Rosiers, Tribu

Drama

Winner:

• Jovette Marchessault, Le Voyage magnifique d'Emily Carr

Other Finalists:

• René-Daniel Dubois, Le Troisième fils du professeur Yourolov
• Anne Hébert, L'Île de la Demoiselle

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Jean-François Lisée, Dans l'oeil de l'aigle

Other Finalists:

• Gérard Bergeron, Petit traité de l'État de France'
• Martin Blais, L'Autre Thomas d'Aquin
• Daniel Latouche, Le Bazar
• Laurent-Michel Vacher, L'Empire du moderne

Children's Literature – Text

Winner:

• Christiane Duchesne, La Vraie histoire du chien de Clara Vic

Other Finalists:

• José Fréchette, L'Automne à 15 ans
• Philippe Gauthier, L'Héritage de Qader
• Johanne Massé, Le Passé en péril

Children's Literature – Illustration

Winner:

• Pierre Pratt, Les Fantaisies de l'oncle Henri

Other Finalists:

• Mireille Levert, Jérémie et Mme Ming,
• Stéphane Poulin, Les Amours de ma mère,

Translation (from English to French)

Winner:

• Charlotte et Robert Melançon, Le Second rouleau

Other Finalists:

• Claire Dupond, Lettres à un ami québécois
• Ivan Steenhout, Onyx John