2003 Governor General's Awards

The 2003 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (70 books) were announced October 20, the four children's literature winners announced and presented November 10, other winners announced and presented November 12. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.^[1]

The separate announcement and presentation of children's literature awards – four, recognizing text and illustration in English- and French-language books – was a novelty in 2003 (continued for at least a few years). The event at Rideau Hall, the Governor General's residence in Ottawa, was scheduled to begin at 10:00 on a Monday morning. "Children from across the National Capital Region will be invited to attend the event, which will also include readings and workshops related to children's literature."^[2]

English

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Douglas Glover, Elle	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Elizabeth Hay, Garbo Laughs Jean McNeil, Private View Edeet Ravel, Ten Thousand Lovers
Non-fiction	Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World	Andrew Clark, A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle Andrew Cohen, While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World Maggie de Vries, Vancouver, for Missing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman Remembers Her Vanished Sister Ross King, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Poetry	Tim Lilburn, Kill-site	Tim Bowling, The Witness Ghost Evan Jones, Nothing Fell Today But Rain Anne Simpson, Loop Tom Wayman, My Father's Cup
Drama	Vern Thiessen, Einstein's Gift	Marie Clements, Burning Vision Brian Drader, Prok Sunil Kuruvilla, Rice Boy Michael MacLennan, Last Romantics
Children's literature	Glen Huser, Stitches	Sarah Ellis, The Several Lives of Orphan Jack Barbara Haworth-Attard, Theories of Relativity Kevin Major, Ann and Seamus Judd Palmer, The Maestro
Children's illustration	Allen Sapp, The Song Within My Heart	Nicolas Debon, Four Pictures by Emily Carr Rob Gonsalves, Imagine a Night Barbara Reid, The Subway Mouse Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad's Secret: From the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights
French to English translation	Jane Brierley, Memoirs of a Less Travelled Road: A Historian's Life	Patricia Claxton, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali Jo-Anne Elder, Tales from Dog Island: St. Pierre et Miquelon David Homel and Fred A. Reed, The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle Susan Ouriou, Necessary Betrayals

French

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Élise Turcotte, La maison étrangère	Jean-François Chassay, L'Angle mort Marie Gagnier, Console-moi Gaétan Soucy, Music-Hall! Larry Tremblay, Le Mangeur de bicyclette
Non-fiction	Thierry Hentsch, Raconter et mourir : aux sources narratives de l'imaginaire occidental	Michel Morin, Vertige! et autres essais a-politiques Louise Prescott, Le complexe d'Ulysse : signifiance et micropolitique dans la pratique de l'art François Ricard, Le dernier après-midi d'Agnès: essai sur l'oeuvre de Milan Kundera Régine Robin, La mémoire saturée
Poetry	Pierre Nepveu, Lignes aériennes	Nicole Brossard, Cahier de roses & de civilisation Carle Coppens, Le grand livre des entorses Benoît Jutras, Nous serons sans voix Louis-Jean Thibault, Géographie des lointains
Drama	Jean-Rock Gaudreault, Deux pas vers les étoiles	François Archambault, La société des loisirs François Létourneau, Cheech Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies Jean-Pierre Ronfard, Écriture pour le théâtre, tome III
Children's literature	Danielle Simard, J'ai vendu ma soeur	Mélissa Anctil, Gigi Roger Des Roches, Marie Quatdoigts Laurent Grimon, Le chevalier des Arbres Paul Chanel Malenfant, Si tu allais quelque part
Children's illustration	Virginie Egger, Recette d'éléphant à la sauce vieux pneu	Geneviève Côté, Le Premier Printemps du monde Gérard DuBois, Le piano muet Stéphane Jorisch, Thésée et le Minotaure Stéphane Poulin, Annabel et la Bête
English to French translation	Agnès Guitard, Un amour de Salomé	Yolande Amzallag, Le canari éthique: science, société et esprit humain Paule Noyart, L'Or bleu: l'eau, nouvel enjeu stratégique et commercial Hélène Paré, L'histoire spectacle: le cas du tricentenaire de Québec Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, L'analyste

References

^ "Douglas Glover wins Gov. Gen.'s Literary Award for English fiction: Canadian living in New York State won prize for Elle, a fictionalized account of Gulf of St. Lawrence castaway". Cape Breton Post, November 13, 2003.
^ "The Canada Council for the Arts announces finalists for the 2003 Governor General's Literary Awards". News Releases – 2003. Canada Council (canadacouncil.ca). October 20, 2003. Archived 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2015-08-20.

[1] "Douglas Glover wins Gov. Gen.'s Literary Award for English fiction: Canadian living in New York State won prize for Elle, a fictionalized account of Gulf of St. Lawrence castaway". Cape Breton Post, November 13, 2003.

[finalists-2] "The Canada Council for the Arts announces finalists for the 2003 Governor General's Literary Awards". News Releases – 2003. Canada Council (canadacouncil.ca). October 20, 2003. Archived 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2015-08-20.

[1]

[2]

v t e Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit
English-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1937–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration French to English translation
French-language awards	Fiction Non-fiction Poetry (1981–present) Drama (1981–present) Poetry or drama (1959–1980) Children's literature Children's illustration English to French translation
Awards by year	1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024