1999 Governor General's Awards Explained

The winners of the 1999 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, chairman, and Shirley Thomson, director of the Canada Council for the Arts, at a press conference held on November 16 at the National Library of Canada. Each winner received a cheque for .

English

width=15%	Category	width=30%	Winner	width=55%	Nominated
Fiction	Matt Cohen, Elizabeth and After^[1]	Neil Bissoondath, The Worlds Within Her^[2] Anne Fleming, Pool-hopping and Other Stories Elyse Gasco, Can You Wave Bye Bye, Baby? Keith Maillard, Gloria
Non-fiction	Marq de Villiers, Water	Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder Michael Bliss, William Osler Wayson Choy, Wayne Johnston, Baltimore's Mansion
Poetry	Jan Zwicky, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth	Lynn Davies, The Bridge that Carries the Road^[3] Susan Goyette, The True Names of Birds Richard Harrison, Big Breath of a Wish Terence Young, The Island in Winter
Drama	Michael Healey, The Drawer Boy	Wendy Lill, Corker Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge Colleen Murphy, Beating Heart Cadaver Theresa Tova, Still the Night
Children's literature	Rachna Gilmore, A Screaming Kind of Day^[4]	Don Gillmor, The Christmas Orange Graham McNamee, Hate You W.D. Valgardson, The Divorced Kids Club and Other Stories Frieda Wishinsky, Each One Special
Children's illustration	Gary Clement, The Great Poochini	Rose Cowles, I Know an Old Laddie Zhong-Yang Huang, Dragon New Year Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad: from the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights Werner Zimmermann, Brave Highland Heart
French to English translation	Patricia Claxton, Gabrielle Roy: A Life (François Ricard, Gabrielle roy, une vie)	David Homel, Olivo Oliva (Philippe Poloni, Olivo, Oliva) Nancy Huston, The Mark of the Angel (her own novel L'Empreinte de l'ange) Lazer Lederhendler, The Sparrow Has Cut the Day in Half (Claire Dé, Bonheur, Oiseau rare) Donald Winkler, The World of the Gift (Jacques Godbout and Alain Caillé, L'Esprit du don)

French

width=15%	Category	width=30%	Winner	width=55%	Nominated
Fiction	Lise Tremblay, La Danse juive	Hugues Corriveau, Le Ramasseur de souffle Jacques Marchand, Les Vents dominants Carole Massé, L'Ennemi Gaétan Soucy, La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes
Non-fiction	Pierre Perrault, Le Mal du Nord	Anne Élaine Cliche, Dire le livre Jean-Claude Dubé, Le Chevalier de Montmagny: Premier gouverneur de la Nouvelle-France François-Marc Gagnon, Chronique du mouvement automatiste québécois 1941-1954 Daniel Jacques, Nationalité et Modernité
Poetry	Herménégilde Chiasson, Conversations	Claude Beausoleil, Le Chant du voyageur Nicole Brossard, Musée de l'os et de l'eau Carole David, La Maison d'Ophélie Pierre Ouellet, Dieu sait quoi
Drama	Jean-Marc Dalpé, Il n'y a que l'amour	Carole Fréchette, Les Sept Jours de Simon Labrosse René Gingras, D'Avila Michel Tremblay, Encore une fois, si vous permettez
Children's literature	Charlotte Gingras, La Liberté? Connais pas...	Agathe Génois, Adieu, vieux lézard! Andrée-Anne Gratton, Le Message du biscuit chinois Sylvie Nicolas, Célestine Motamo Raymond Plante, Marilou Polaire et l'iguane des neiges
Children's illustration	Stéphane Jorisch, Charlotte et l'île du destin	Nicole Lafond, Contes pour enfants Michèle Lemieux, Nuit d'orage Luc Melanson, La Petite Kim Pierre Pratt, La Vie exemplaire de Martha et Paul
English to French translation	Jacques Brault, Transfiguration (E. D. Blodgett, Transfiguration)	Charlotte Melançon, Réflexions d'un frère siamois (John Ralston Saul, Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century) Marie José Thériault, Ours (Marian Engel, Bear)

Notes and References

1. "Matt Cohen wins G-G for an idea he 'wished he hadn't had'". The Globe and Mail, November 17, 1999.
2. "G-G awards shortlist gets shorter: Winners announced today". National Post, November 16, 1999.
3. "Nominee list". Hamilton Spectator, October 20, 1999.
4. "Literary winners applaud cultural funding at Governor General's Awards". Waterloo Region Record, November 17, 1999.