The 1996 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented on November 14th 1996.

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy

Other Finalists:

• Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace
• Elisabeth Harvor, Let Me Be the One
• Janice Kulyk Keefer , The Green Library
• Cordelia Strube , Teaching Pigs to Sing
• Audrey Thomas, Coming Down from Wa

Poetry

Winner:

• E.D. Blodgett , Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano

Other Finalists:

• Elizabeth Brewster , Footnotes to the Book of Job
• Crispin Elsted , Climate and the Affections
• Charles Lillard , Shadow Weather
• Erin Mouré, Search Procedures

Drama

Winner:

• Colleen Wagner , The Monument

Other Finalists:

• Wendy Lill, The Glace Bay Miners' Museum
• John Mighton , The Little Years
• Michael O'Brien, Mad Boy Chronicle
• Betty Quan , Mother Tongue

Non-fiction

Winner:

• John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization

Other Finalists:

• Roy MacGregor , The Home Team - Fathers, Sons & Hockey
• T.F. Rigelhof , A Blue Boy in a Black Dress
• Lake Sagaris , After the First Death: A Journey Through Chile, Time, Mind
• Merilyn Simonds , The Convict Lover: A True Story

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

• Paul Yee , Ghost Train

Other Finalists:

• Jan Andrews , Keri
• David Boyd, Bottom Drawer
• Gillian Chan, Glory Days and Other Stories
• Don Gillmor , The Fabulous Song

Chldren's Literature - Illustraion

Winner:

• Eric Beddows , The Rooster's Gift

Other Finalists:

• Alan and Lea Daniel , Sody Salleratus
• Wang Kui , The Wise Washerman - A Folktale from Burma
• Johnny Wales , Gruntle Piggle Takes Off
• Werner Zimmermann , Whatever You Do, Don't Go Near That Canoe!

Translation - from French to English

Winner:

• Linda Gaboriau, Stone and Ashes

Other Finalists:

• Sheila Fischman, Ostend
• D.G. Jones , For Orchestra and Solo Poet
• Shelley Tepperman , In Vitro

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Marie-Claire Blais, Soifs

Other Finalists:

• Nancy Huston, Instruments des ténèbres
• Roger Magini , Un homme défait
• Jocelyne Saucier , La vie comme une image
• Lise Vaillancourt , L'Été des eiders

Poetry

Winner:

• Serge Patrice , Le Quatuor de l'errance followed by La Traversée du désert

Other Finalists:

• José Acquelin , L'Oiseau respirable
• Jean Charlebois , De moins en moins l'amour de plus en plus
• Herménégilde Chiasson, Climats
• Louise Cotnoir , Dis-moi que j'imagine

Drama

Winner:

• Normand Chaurette , Le Passage de l'Indiana

Other Finalists:

• Suzanne Lebeau , Salvador - La Montagne, l'Enfant et la Mangue
• Wajdi Mouawad , Alphonse

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Michel Freitag , Le Naufrage de l'université - Et autres essais d'épistémologie politique

Other Finalists:

• Gérard Bouchard , Quelques arpents d'Amérique - Population, économie, famille au Saguenay 1838-1971
• Gilles Lapointe , L'Envol des signes - Borduas et ses lettres
• Benoît Melançon , Diderot épistolier - Contribution à une poétique de la lettre familière au XVIIIe siècle
• Denis Vaugeois , La Fin des alliances franco-indiennes - Enquête sur un sauf-conduit de 1760 devenu un traité en 1990

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

• Gilles Tibo , Noémie - Le Secret de Madame Lumbago

Other Finalists:

• Sylvie Desrosiers , Le Long Silence
• Jacinthe Gaulin , Mon p'tit frère
• Daniel Sernine , L'Arc-en-cercle
• Hélène Vachon , Le Plus Proche Voisin

Children's Literature - Illustration

The jury decided not to award the Prize in this category in 1996. The jury felt that none of the works submitted this year met the standards of excellence of the Governor General's Literary Awards.

Translation - from English to French

Winner:

• Christiane Teasdale , Systèmes de survie - Dialogue sur les fondements moraux du commerce et de la politique

Other Finalists:

• Pierre DesRuisseaux , Contre-taille - Poèmes choisis de vingt-cinq auteurs canadiens-anglais
• Hélène Le Beau , Les Dangers de la pensée critique - Trois nouvelles

Other Governor General's Awards: