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Ferguson, Ohlin, and Wangersky find spots on Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist

At a press conference held in Toronto’s tony Ritz-Carlton Hotel, two thirds of this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize jury – Canadian author Anna Porter and American author Gary Shteyngart (the third juror, Irishman Roddy Doyle, was missing) – announced the shortlist for the 2012 edition of the $50,000 prize. The shortlist includes a contemporary thriller, a collection of short stories, and a novel in translation. The five shortlisted titles are:

• 419 by Will Ferguson (Viking Canada)
• Inside by Alix Ohlin (House of Anansi Press)
• The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler (HarperCollins Canada)
• Ru by Kim Thúy; Sheila Fischman, trans. (Random House Canada)
• Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky (Thomas Allen Canada)

The appearance of Ohlin’s novel on the shortlist follows her nomination for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. She is now the only author who stands a chance at appearing on all three of the big fall fiction prize lists. (The third and final shortlist, for the Governor General’s Literary Award, will be revealed tomorrow.)

Thúy is nominated for her first novel, which has already won the French-language GG. And Russell Wangersky’s nomination for his most recent collection makes this three years in a row that Thomas Allen has had a book in contention. (Thomas Allen published last year’s winner, Esi Edugyan’s Half- Blood Blues.)

Arguably one of the most surprising inclusions is Ferguson, who is frequently passed over by prize juries. Reading the jury citation for Ferguson’s novel, Anna Porter noted, “It is tempting to put 419 in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and genius.”

The jury read 142 titles submitted by 51 publishers from across the country to come up with the shortlist. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton on Oct. 30. For the second year in a row, the CBC will broadcast the event live. The host of that broadcast, Jian Ghomeshi, himself a newly minted author, acted as emcee at this morning’s announcement.

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