Wayne Johnston, Patrick deWitt make Giller Prize long list for $100K prize

Author Patrick deWitt stops on the red carpet at the Scotiabank Giller Bank Prize gala in Toronto on Monday, Nov.19, 2018. Best-selling author deWitt is among the three finalists for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — Five former Giller Prize nominees are among the 14 authors longlisted for Canada’s richest fiction award.

Newfoundland author Wayne Johnston has made the long list for a record-tying sixth time with his tragicomic novel “The Novice of Holloway Hall,” about a young woman who returns home from a convent after failing to become a nun in the 1930s.

Patrick deWitt is also nominated for the fourth time with the upcoming “Dodge City,” which follows a young draft dodger on a drug-fuelled road trip during the Vietnam War.

Other past nominees include Michelle Good for her multi-generational family saga “Eliza Sunshine,” Colin McAdam for his modern retelling of the Greek classic “Daphnis and Chloe,” and Cordelia Strube for her moving portrait of a single parent, “At Sea in a Sieve.”

Giller organizers say the long list, which includes nine first-time nominees, was narrowed down from more than 140 works of fiction submitted by Canadian publishers.

The nominated works are a reflection of the rich Canadian fiction published this year, Elana Rabinovitch, the executive director of the Giller Prize, said in a news release.

Authors longlisted for the first time include Jennifer Chevalier for her fiction debut “The Winter Witch,” Patricia Finn for her novel “The Golden Boy” and Tara Gereaux for “Wild People Quiet.”

Also on the list are Hollay Ghadery for her novel “The Unravelling of Ou,” Nicholas Herring for “Your Breath in Charcoal,” and Nazanine Hozar with “The Small Ones.”

Rounding out this year’s contenders are Mai Nguyen for the darkly humorous “Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead,” Lisa Robertson for her novel “Riverwork” and Patmeena Sabit with the national bestseller “Good People.”

The Giller Prize is Canada’s largest award for a work of fiction, handing out $100,000 to the winner and $10,000 to the shortlisted authors.

The Giller has faced controversy and financial uncertainty in recent years.

In 2023, hundreds of book workers — including past winners — boycotted the prize, in part objecting to its former title sponsor Scotiabank. A subsidiary of the bank had held shares in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer. The subsidiary has since divested from the arms company.

The Giller and Scotiabank parted ways in February 2025.

The boycott ended this April after the group, called CanLit Responds, said it was satisfied the prize was no longer connected to any of the sponsors it took issue with.

Last month, the Giller announced they had received new funding from Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, which would donate $4 million to the prize in a multi-year gift, in addition to $1 million the Weston family quietly gave a year ago, when the award was in dire financial straits.

In response to the backlash, the Giller created a new advisory council called the Giller Prize Writers’ Circle that it said will work to support the literary community.

A nine-member jury panel of independent booksellers representing all five regions of Canada selected this year’s long list.

“These authors grapple with our collective history with humour, openness, and compassion, fearlessly chronicling our challenges, our tragedies and our triumphs. Canada is a collection of people and places such as these,” the jury said in a press release of the selected novels. “And at a time when our nation’s cultural identity is being tested, it is more important than ever to write, read, and reflect on our stories.”

The short list is due to be announced on Oct. 5. This year’s Giller Prize is set to be awarded on Nov. 16 during a televised ceremony.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2026.

Kaitlyn McGrath, The Canadian Press