The Canada Council for the Arts awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award on Wednesday to Mary Helen Poitras in the novel and short story category for her short story collection. Galumpf.
This collection of 11 short stories, published by Alto in the spring, is a collection of stories about empathy, as well as finding ways to connect with others and live in harmony with others — “but without crushing each other anymore,” according to Ma. Mentioned by Alto website. Author.
“I am delighted to have won the award for a collection of short stories, which is a surprisingly unpopular genre,” said Mary-Hélène Poitras. Journalism. As an author, that’s kind of my favorite genre because the short story is like a density center. »
author the desire And Suddenly a minotaur He emphasized that the short story that bears his name in his collection explores the origin of his discovery of writing, reading, literature, and language learning. “I also go back to my childhood in Aylmer, in the Outaouais. So it’s still a very personal text.”
She adds that it is interesting that this year it was also a collection of short stories that won the award in the same category in English: cocoonWritten by Anuja Varghese (Anansi Press).
The other finalists in the novels and short stories category are: The rice is goneWritten by Carol Labarre (Mémoire d’encrier); My son did not return for seven days by David Clairson (Heliotrope); Darkness is nightWritten by Brigitte Heintjens (Boreal); And Postcard from the oceanWritten by Stephanie Meunier (Limiac).
Winners in seven categories
In total, 14 titles in French and English were selected from this year’s 70 finalists.
In poetry, Ainu poet and writer Rita Mistukucho won the award Atiqa Ooty. Ibex heart (Inkpot Memory). In the essay and theater categories, the winners are respectively False Rebels: The Excesses of Political ErrorBy Philippe Bernier Arcand (Bosch Poets) and Huge boyWritten by Matthew Gosselin (Somme tout). Then in translation it is the French version of Esi Edogyan’s novel, In the Shadow of the Sun: Reflections on Race and Narrativestranslated by Catherine Ego (Boreal), which has distinguished itself.
In the field of children’s literature, in the text category, Le Buchen won with never forget (short scale), but in children’s picture books it is also the same The youngest lifeguard in the world Selected, a story for ages 7 and up by Samuel LaRochelle and Yves Patenaude that deals with environmental anxiety.
Photo by Alain Roberge, Press Archive
Author Samuel LaRochelle
“I hope that I have put my finger on something relating to the subject, that my words have lived up to what I wanted to write, and that Ève Paternaude’s illustrations have come to envelop and explode little bombs in the hearts of the people who read us,” declared Samuel Larochelle.
The book, published by XYZ last fall, won the Espiègle Prize in the spring and was a finalist for the 2024 Quebec Booksellers’ Prize. It will also be published in French-speaking Europe as well as in English, while a second volume is scheduled to appear next year. .
“It’s a crazy fall because I’m facing 10H An anniversary in the world of literature, publishing a novel for adults [Elias et Justine]the biography [Louise Portal – Aimer, incarner, écrire] And my club Strange accent It is now housed in Usine C, which was already a sign of approval from the artistic community. Receiving this award is an even stronger stamp of approval because, at my age, it is the highest literary distinction one can receive in all of Canada,” he said.
Winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards receive $25,000 for their book, the publisher receives $3,000 to promote it, and finalists receive $1,000.
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