Authors Esi Edugyan and Patrick DeWitt both contenders for Giller Prize

ENTERTAINMENT

Authors Esi Edugyan and Patrick DeWitt both contenders for Giller Prize

The Canadian Press Published Monday, September 17, 2018 11:21AM EDT

Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan is photographed at home in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, August 27, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Text:

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Novelists Esi Edugyan and Patrick DeWitt are among the familiar names on this year's Scotiabank Giller Prize long list.

Michael Redhill, last year's winner, announced the contenders at a ceremony Monday in St. John's, N.L.

The prize awards $100,000 to the winner and $10,000 to the other finalists.

A short list will be announced Oct. 1 and the winner will be announced at a televised gala in Toronto on Nov. 19.

Edugyan, who is nominated this year for "Washington Black" (Patrick Crean Editions), won the Giller in 2011 for "Half-Blood Blues."

She beat out fellow 2011 nominee DeWitt, whose latest novel, "French Exit" (Anansi Press), also made this year's long list.

Rawi Hage, whose works have twice before been shortlisted in 2006 and 2008, is also being recognized for the "Beirut Hellfire Society," published by Knopf Canada.

The five-member jury described this year's long list of 12 titles, culled from a field of 104 books, as a reflection of "the landscape of the current Canadian imagination."

"These are stories about and beyond Canada, a list so exciting, exhibiting such pure excellence, it stands up to any list in the world, and it is great, great fun to read," the jury wrote.

The jury panel included Canadians Kamal Al-Solaylee, a writer and journalist; Maxine Bailey, playwright and vice-president of advancement for the Toronto International Film Festival and author Heather O'Neill. It also included American writer John Freeman and English novelist Philip Hensher.