Incredible news today! Michael Christie's The Beggar's Garden, alumnus of the Vancouver Book Club that we run, has been nominated for the Giller Prize! Otherwise known as "the big one" in Canadian publishing, the Scotiabank Giller Prize awards $50,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the finalists. It's named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994 by her husband Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch.
I asked Michael how he felt about the nomination and being listed next to 15 other great Canadian titles from the past year and he replied, "F***ing great! It's insane to be even mentioned in the same breath as the other writers on there."
F***ing great, indeed. Congrats, Mike!
Vancouver author Lee Henderson with Michael Christie at a previous Vancouver Book Club gathering
