Charles Foran and Patrick deWitt win 2011 Governor General Literary Awards

The 2011 Governor General news conference announcing the winners presented some familiar faces as Charles Foran captured the non-fiction prize and Patrick deWitt took the fiction category.

Foran has already won the Charles Taylor and the Hilary Weston prizes for Mordecai: The Life & Times, his biography of Mordecai Richler; while deWitt received the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize earlier this month for his novel, The Sister Brothers. It was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The news conference also revealed English and French-language winners in five other categories, including poetry and drama. The full list of winners can be seen here: http://987321654.canadacouncil.net/

Governor General David Johnston will present the awards on Nov. 24 during a gala at Rideau Hall. This year represents the 75th anniversary of the Governor General Literary Awards.

– Athena McKenzie