Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction

The Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a non-fiction book written in English. Since 1987[1] it is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each for creators of English- and French-language books. Originally presented by the Canadian Authors Association,[clarification needed] the Governor General's Awards program became a project of the Canada Council for the Arts in 1959.[2]

The program was created in 1937 and inaugurated that November for 1936 publications in two English-language categories, conventionally called the 1936 Governor General's Awards.[1] Beginning in 1942 there were two winners annually, with separate awards presented for creative non-fiction and academic non-fiction;[3] however, this was discontinued after the 1958 awards, and then returned to a single non-fiction category.

The winners alone were announced until 1979, when Canada Council released in advance a shortlist of three nominees. Since then, the advance shortlist has numbered three to five.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ogwc-GG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference canenc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Win Governor-General's Literary Awards". Victoria Times-Colonist. June 19, 1943. p. 4. Retrieved January 10, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.