The Governor General's Award

The Year of the Small Press

TITLE TITRE	AUTHOR AUTEUR	CATEGORY CATÉGORIE	PUBLISHER ÉDITEUR
1995
The Roaring Girl	Greg Hollingshead	Fiction	Somerville House Publishing
	"These brilliant, incisive, nearly perfect stories illuminate the mix-up, dilemmas and joys of contemporary life with lightning bolts of fiercely unexpected epiphanies."
Voice	Anne Szumigalski	Poetry	Coteau Books/Mendel Art Gallery
	"Voice by Anne Szumigalski consists of rich, mature, poetic sounds. Brilliantly visual as well, her work creates a close marriage between the verbal and visual arts. Written with great insight and versatility ('Sacred Dance' to 'Route 66'). Voice is a mature and inventive collection by a major Canadian poet."
Three in the Back, Two in the Head	Jason Sherman	Drama	Playwrights Canada Press
	"Staccato speech and a fierce use of language fuel aggressive intellectual attacks. When allegiances can be bought and sold, simple questions reveal complex truths in a lethal game of musical chairs where no one knows who's on whose side."
Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen	Rosemary Sullivan	Nonfiction	HarperCollins
	"Gwendolyn MacEwen ranked as one of the leading poets of the 1960s, a brilliant light on the Canadian scene until her early death. In a biography of rare depth and sensitivity, Rosemary Sullivan explores MacEwen's unhappy personal life, her powerful poetry and her outstanding literary accomplishments. Shadow Maker is a beautifully written examination of a passionate life."
The Maestro	Tim Wynne-Jones	Children's Literature - Text	Groundwood Books
	"Tim Wynne-Jones creates a cast of characters that are dark, offbeat, or comic, but always believable. Through encounters with those characters - his brutal father, the Maestro, a tough woman bush pilot - Burl's search is made as compelling for the reader as it is for the young boy himself. "
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh	Ludmila Zeman	Children's Literature - Illustration	Tundra Books
	"A visual epic. Ludmila Zeman's illustrations magnificently capture the rich and complex Gilgamesh tale. Her innovative technique creates a very dramatic atmosphere. Selective in her use of colour, Zeman has charged the illustrations with burning light and mysterious blue oceans that effectively describe this grand and mythical landscape. "
Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?	David Homel	Translation (from French to English)	Coach House Press
	"English version of Cette grenade dans la main du jeune Nègre est-elle une arme ou un fruit?, by Dany Laferrière (VLB Éditeur). An iconoclastic journey of a Black Haitian writer through North America, Dany Laferrière's novel presents considerable challenges to the translator. David Homel takes the risk of providing a daring translation in which he appropriates the freedom the author gave himself in the original. The result is a freewheeling text that gives a vivid reading of Laferrière's playful and biting language. "
Les Oiseaux de Saint-John Perse	Nicole Houde	Romans et nouvelles	Éditions de la pleine lune
	"A poignant tale of love and generosity, dreams and desire, within the confines of the painful subject of aging. The language is filled with quiet poetry, attentive to the transformations that dreams can work upon the most humble beings and objects."
Pour orchestre et poète seul	Émile Martel	Poésie	Écrits des Forges
	"Émile Martel's Pour orchestre et poète seul is a solemn and lovely music lesson. His poetic composition is a rich and thoughtful meditation on the art of creation, and its creator's touch is deft and sure. In a language that is generous and true, the solitary poet of the land and the sea observes the island whence comes the encompassing music he sings."
Les Quatre Morts de Marie	Carole Fréchette	Théâtre	Éditions Les Herbes Rouges
	"A moving portrait of a woman's search for meaning in her life. The play's admirable construction flows harmoniously with its message and is highly evocative. The language is serious even in its moments of humour, touching upon issues of solitude, life and death with quiet grace."
Louis-Antoine Dessaulles. Un seigneur libéral et anticlérical	Yvan Lamonde	Études et essais	Éditions Fides
	"Historian Yvan Lamonde has written a compelling biography of Louis-Antoine Dessaulles (1818-1895), transforming a literary genre into a wealth of academic information. His description of the life of this liberal, anticlerical seigneur allows us to discover the other side of Quebec's history. A historical fresco that "reads like a novel.""
Comme une peau de chagrin	Sonia Sarfati	Littérature de jeunesse - Texte	Éditions de la courte échelle
	"From the opening sentence, Comme une peau de chagrin captivates readers with both its style and subject. Written in a lively style that is humorous and poetic, the novel takes an extremely intelligent approach to the subject of anorexia. Also, and just as important, it examines adolescent friendship. Thanks to her style, theme and thoughtful treatment, Sarfati has given us a work that will leave a deep and lasting impression. "
Sho et les dragons d'eau	Annouchka Gravel Galouchko	Littérature de jeunesse - Illustrations	Annick Press
	"This superb work conjures a contemplative state, allowing the reader to travel on the rhythms of the colours. The immense richness of the illustrations is such that each image can stand as a work on its own, filled with magic and splendour. "
Entre l'ordre et la liberté	Hervé Juste	Traduction (de l'anglais au français)	Éditions du Boréal
	" French version of The Shaping of Québec Politics and Society by Gérald Bernier and Daniel Salée (Crane Russak). The translation of this very dense and learned text has been rendered in a graceful, elegant style. The language is clear, the vocabulary precise, and the research very impressive. The result makes us forget it is a translation; a success in every respect. "

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