The Canada Council for the Arts awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award on Wednesday to Marie Hélène Poitras, in the Novels and Short Stories category, for her collection of short stories Galumpf.
Published by Alto in the spring, this collection of 11 short stories is a quilt of stories around empathy, as well as the search for ways to connect with others and live harmoniously with others – “but without crushing each other no more,” according to the author.
“I am happy to have won the prize with a collection of short stories, which is a surprisingly unloved genre,” Marie Hélène Poitras told The Press. And as an author, it’s a bit of my favorite genre because the short story is like a concentrate of intensity. »
The author of The desire And Suddenly the Minotaur emphasized that the eponymous short story of his collection explores the origin of his discovery of writing, reading, literature and language learning. “I also go back to my childhood in Aylmer, in Outaouais. So it’s still quite a personal text. »
Interestingly, this year, she adds, it was also a collection of short stories that won the prize in the same category in English: Chrysalisby Anuja Varghese (House of Anansi Press).
The other finalists in the Novels and Short Stories category were The gold of the larchesby Carole Labarre (Mémoire d’encrier); My son did not return for seven days, by David Clerson (Heliotrope); Dark is the night, by Brigitte Haentjens (Boréal); And A postcard from the oceanby Stéfani Meunier (Leméac).
Winners in seven categories
In total, 14 titles were chosen in French and English among the 70 finalists of the year.
In poetry, Innu poet and writer Rita Mestokosho won the prize for Atikᵁ utei. The heart of the caribou (Memory of inkwell). In the Essay and Theater categories, the winners are respectively False rebels: The excesses of political incorrectnessby Philippe Bernier Arcand (Bush Poets), and Big guy, by Mathieu Gosselin (Somme tout). Then, in Translation, it is the French version of the novel by Esi Edugyan, In the Shadow of the Sun: Reflections on Race and Narrativestranslated by Catherine Ego (Boréal), who stood out.
As for children’s literature, in the text category, the winner is Lou Beauchesne with Unforgettable (The short scale), while in illustrated children’s books, it is The world’s smallest savior which was chosen, a story for ages 7 and over by Samuel Larochelle and Ève Patenaude which addresses ecoanxiety.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The author Samuel Larochelle
“I hope that I have put my finger on something with the subject, that my words are up to what I wanted to write, that the illustrations of Ève Paternaude have come to envelop and explode little bombs in the hearts of the people who read us,” declared Samuel Larochelle.
The book, which was published last fall by XYZ, won the Espiègle prize in the spring and was among the finalists for the 2024 Quebec Booksellers Prize. It will also be published in French-speaking Europe as well as in English , while a second volume is due to appear next year.
“It’s a crazy fall because I’m having my 10e anniversary in the literary world, I publish a novel for adults [Elias et Justine]a bio [Louise Portal – Aimer, incarner, écrire] and my cabaret Queer Accent is now at Usine C, which was already a sign of approval from the artistic community. And there, to have this prize, it is like an even more powerful seal of approval, because at my age, it is like the highest literary distinction that one can have across Canada » , he said.
The winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards receive $25,000 for their book, while the publisher receives $3,000 to promote it and the finalists receive $1,000.