TORONTO - After spending eight years at the library toiling over her debut novel, "The Golden Mean," British Columbia writer Annabel Lyon has been rewarded with nominations for three major Canadian literary prizes.

Lyon's novel about Aristotle's relationship with Alexander the Great was recently shortlisted for the $25,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the $50,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize. On Wednesday, she learned that the book is also vying for the prestigious Governor General's Award, worth $25,000.

Lyon, who was inspired to write "The Golden Mean" after being influenced by Aristotle's writings during her philosophy studies at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University, faces some stiff competition.

CanLit legend Alice Munro also made the list for her short story collection "Too Much Happiness." Munro took her name out of the running for the Giller prize, saying she wanted the spotlight to shine on younger writers. Despite her decision to opt out of the Giller, Munro's book did earn a spot on the Writers' Trust short list.

Newfoundland writer Michael Crummey made the fiction list for his novel "Galore," while Kate Pullinger, who lives in London but is originally from Cranbrook, B.C., is in the running for her novel "The Mistress of Nothing." Victoria's Deborah Willis rounds out the list with a nod for her collection of short stories entitled "Vanishing and Other Stories."

In an interesting twist, acclaimed fiction writer M.G. Vassanji -- who has twice won the Giller Prize -- made the Governor General's short list for non-fiction for "A Place Within: Rediscovering India."

The winners will be announced Nov. 17 in Montreal.

Governor General's Literary Awards Nominees (English-language):

Fiction

  • Michael Crummey (St. John's, N.L.), "Galore" (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)
  • Annabel Lyon (New Westminster, B.C.), "The Golden Mean" (Random House Canada, distributed by the publisher)
  • Alice Munro (Clinton, Ont.), "Too Much Happiness" (McClelland & Stewart; distributed by Random House of Canada)
  • Kate Pullinger (London, England; originally from Cranbrook, B.C.), "The Mistress of Nothing" (McArthur & Company; distributed by the publisher)
  • Deborah Willis (Victoria), "Vanishing and Other Stories" (Penguin Group (Canada); distributed by the publisher)

Poetry

  • David W. McFadden (Toronto), "Be Calm, Honey" (Mansfield Press; distributed by LitDistCo)
  • Philip Kevin Paul (Brentwood Bay, B.C.), "Little Hunger" (Nightwood Editions; distributed by Harbour Publishing)
  • Sina Queyras (Montreal), "Expressway" (Coach House Books; distributed by LitDistCo)
  • Carmine Starnino (Montreal), "This Way Out" (Gaspereau Press; distributed by the publisher)
  • David Zieroth (North Vancouver, B.C.), "The Fly in Autumn" (Harbour Publishing; distributed by the publisher)

Drama

  • Beverley Cooper (Toronto), "Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott" (Scirocco Drama / J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Group; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
  • Kevin Loring (Vancouver), "Where the Blood Mixes" (Talonbooks; distributed by Publishers Group Canada)
  • Joan MacLeod (Victoria), "Another Home Invasion" (Talonbooks; distributed by Publishers Group Canada)
  • Hannah Moscovitch (Toronto), "East of Berlin" (Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by the publisher)
  • Michael Nathanson (Winnipeg), "Talk" (Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by the publisher)

Non-fiction

  • Randall Hansen (Toronto), "Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-45" (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)
  • Trevor Herriot (Regina), "Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds" (Phyllis Bruce Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
  • Eric S. Margolis (Toronto), "American Raj: Liberation or Domination? (Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World)" (Key Porter Books; distributed by H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd)
  • Eric Siblin (Westmount, Que.), "The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece" (House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
  • M.G. Vassanji (Toronto), "A Place Within: Rediscovering India" (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)

Children's Literature - Text

  • Shelley Hrdlitschka (North Vancouver, B.C.), "Sister Wife" (Orca Book Publishers; distributed by the publisher)
  • Sharon Jennings (Toronto), "Home Free" (Second Story Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
  • Caroline Pignat (Ottawa), "Greener Grass: The Famine Years" (Red Deer Press, a division of Fitzhenry & Whiteside; distributed by the publisher)
  • Robin Stevenson (Victoria), "A Thousand Shades of Blue" (Orca Book Publishers; distributed by the publisher)
  • Tim Wynne-Jones (Perth, Ont.), "The Uninvited" (Candlewick Press; distributed by Random House of Canada)

Children's Literature - Illustration

  • Rachel Berman (Victoria), "Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog," text by Tim Beiser (Tundra Books; distributed by Random House of Canada)
  • Irene Luxbacher (Toronto), "The Imaginary Garden," text by Andrew Larsen (Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
  • Jirina Marton (Colborne, Ont.), "Bella's Tree," text by Janet Russell (Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
  • Luc Melanson (Laval, Que.), "My Great Big Mamma," text by Olivier Ka, translation by Helen Mixter (Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
  • Ningeokuluk Teevee (Cape Dorset, Nunavut), "Alego," text by Ningeokuluk Teevee, translation by Nina Manning-Toonoo (Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)

Translation - French to English

  • Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott (Montreal), "A Slight Case of Fatigue" (Talonbooks; distributed by Publishers Group Canada, a division of Raincoast Books), English translation of "Un peu de fatigue" by Stephane Bourguignon (Les Editions Quebec Amerique)
  • Jo-Anne Elder (Fredericton), "One" (Goose Lane Editions; distributed by University of Toronto Press), English translation of "Seul on est" by Serge Patrice Thibodeau (Les Editions Perce-Neige)
  • David Homel and Fred A. Reed (Montreal), "Wildlives" (Douglas & McIntyre; distributed by HarperCollins Canada), English translation of "Champagne" by Monique Proulx (Les Editions du Boreal)
  • Susan Ouriou (Calgary), "Pieces of Me" (Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press), English translation of "La liberte? Connais pasa" by Charlotte Gingras (Les editions de la courte echelle)
  • Fred A. Reed (Montreal), "Empire of Desire: The Abolition of Time" (Talonbooks; distributed by Publishers Group Canada, a division of Raincoast Books), English translation of "Le temps aboli : l'Occident et ses grands recits" by Thierry Hentsch (Les Editions du Boreal / Les Presses de l'Universite de Montreal)