Fanny Britt’s novel, Sugaring Off, has been longlisted for the 2025 Giller Prize.

Fanny is a playwright, writer, and translator. She is the winner of multiple Governor General’s Literary Awards, a Libris Award, a Joe Shuster Award, and was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature. Faires les sucres won the Governor General’s Literary Award for French-language Fiction in 2021. Britt has written a dozen plays and translated more than fifteen works by many American, Canadian, British, and Irish playwrights. Born in Northern Quebec, Britt lives in Montreal.

What’s the first piece of writing you had published?

My first ever publication was a short story I wrote for a Quebec writing contest for college-aged students. I won first prize and was published in that year’s collection of winning stories!

Which authors or books inspired your book?

Many authors inspire all my books and plays, at this point there is a choir of ghosts around me at all times, from my early love for Lucy Maud Montgomery, the Brontës, and Leonard Cohen, to my recent thrills while reading Mona Awad or Claire Keegan, but for this book, of course I was very inhabited by Virgina Woolf’s stream of consciousness, as well as Quebec giant Robert Lalonde’s lucid and loving books.

Why is it important for Canadians to read books by Canadian authors?

I don’t know that I started reading Carol Shields, Lisa Moore, or Margaret Atwood because they were Canadian, but as a Francophone Quebecer, reading these authors and many others made me feel a connection to Canada that political divide and geographical distance always seemed to want to break.

What’s the last great book you read by a Canadian author?

I’m very moved by Miriam Toews’ A Truce That Is Not Peace these days.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

As soon as I learned to read and write, I knew I wanted to be a writer. There was no other activity that made me feel more in touch with the experience of living, or that made me feel more like myself. Which isn’t to say that I always love it. I often don’t.

Did anything surprise you when writing your longlisted book?

Everything surprised me about it! I viewed my book as a very intimate, sort of “small” book, and would never have dreamed of seeing it longlisted for the Giller, whose past finalists and winners are among my personal heroes.

Who’s your favourite character in your longlisted book and why?

Celia is my favorite character, because she is clearheaded and fierce, whereas I’m too often antsy and regretful.

Follow us on X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for the latest Giller Prize news, including when the shortlist is announced on October 6, 2025.