Two books by Biblioasis were named as finalists for the prestigious $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Windsor publisher announced Monday.
Martin John, a novel by Anakana Schofield, and Arvida, a collection of stories by Samuel Archibald (translated from the French by Donald Winkler) were selected.
The prize, which carries a purse of $100,000 for the winning author and $10,000 for each shortlisted author, is the richest of all Canadian literary awards.
Biblioasis has had two titles longlisted for the Giller in the past, but only one book shortlisted, in 2012.
The last independent house with a duo of finalists vying for the award was House of Anansi in 2013.
“I'm grateful to the jury and to the Giller Prize itself for helping to spotlight these two vastly different, challenging and equally wonderful titles,” said publisher Dan Wells in a press release. “It's a wonderful honour for the press, of course, to have two selections among the five shortlisted books, especially considering the quality of the other longlisted titles.
Wells attributes credit to the authors, their editors John Metcalf and Stephen Henighan and translator Donald Winkler.
He says what he is most excited about “is that these nominations will bring so many more readers to Anakana's and Samuel's work, in a way that would not have been as possible otherwise.”
The other shortlisted titles are Fifteen Dogs (André Alexis, Coach House), Outline (Rachel Cusk, Harper Perennial), and Daydreams of Angels (Heather O’Neill, HarperCollins).
The winner will be announced at November 10.
