Launched in January 2021, The Giller Book Club is one of The Giller Foundation’s initiatives to celebrate Canadian authors year-round. In 2021, we featured the 14 longlisted authors and books from 2020. These 60-minute discussions uniquely paired the longlisted authors with Canadian icons, other writers, journalists, reviewers, presidents of publishing houses, and artistic figures as interviewers.
We want to make sure you have something great to read this holiday season. For the third year, we are excited to give away the entire 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist to 12 lucky winners! From December 1, 2021, to December 12, 2021, we will be giving away one book each day.
On Wednesday, November 10, from 2-3 p.m. EST, you will have the opportunity to connect with 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, Omar El Akkad on Twitter!
Omar El Akkad has been named the winner of the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel, What Strange Paradise, published by McClelland & Stewart, taking home $100,000 courtesy of Scotiabank.
The 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner will be announced during a live broadcast on November 8, 2021, at 9 p.m. ET (11:30 AT, 12 midnight NT). Watch on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service, with a livestream also available on cbcbooks.ca/gillerprize. Listeners can tune in to a broadcast special on CBC Radio One and CBC Listen.
On Monday, November 8, 2021, 8:30 p.m. ET, tune in to the Giller Light Bash to watch the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner announced with lovers of Canadian literature all across Canada.
Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists will take place on November 4, 2021. Hosted by Jael Richardson, it will be an hour of readings, questions, and answers, and will take you inside the minds and creative lives of the writers on the 2021 shortlist.
Katherena Vermette's novel, The Strangers has been longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Katherena Vermette (she/her) is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis nation—Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her first book, North End Love Songs, won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her first novel, The Break, was a national bestseller and won several 2017 awards, including the Amazon First Novel Award, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and McNally Robinson Book of the Year. She lives with her family in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River. The Strangers is her second novel.
On September 8, we announced the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Since then, our feeds have been full of images from book lovers just like you enjoying all 12 titles. Thank you so much for supporting Canadian literature! The shortlist announcement is just a week away on October 5, at 11 a.m. ET. We invite everyone to tune in live via our website or YouTube and Facebook pages.
Omar El Akkad’s novel, What Strange Paradise has been longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize. He is an author and journalist. His debut novel, American War, was an international bestseller and has been translated into thirteen languages. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. He lives in Portland, Oregon.