The winners of this year’s Governor General’s Literary Awards were announced on Oct.25, among them‚ Vancouver author Madeleine Thien for her Scotiabank Giller Prize– and Man Booker Prize–shortlisted novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Knopf Canada)‚ and four-time GG nominee Lazer Lederhendler for his translation of Giller Prize–shortlisted The Party Wall (Biblioasis) by Catherine Leroux.

Toronto author Steven Heighton won in the poetry category for his collection The Waking Comes Late (House of Anansi Press)‚ which jurors called “a mature work: smart, moving, inventive, original”; kidlit duo Jon-Erik Lappano and Kellen Hatanaka won in the illustrated books category for Tokyo Digs a Garden (Groundwood Books); Martine Leavitt won the young people’s literature prize for her novel Calvin (Groundwood)‚ which the jury found a “transcendent exploration of reality and truth”; Colleen Murphy took home the drama prize for Pig Girl (Playwrights Canada); and historian and former professor Bill Waiser won in the non-fiction category for A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905 (Fifth House Publishers)‚ a “surpris[ing]… reconsideration of Canada” that focuses on First Nations and environmental issues.

Winners in seven French-language categories were also announced.

Each winner will receive a $25,000 purse and be invited to participate in special events in Ottawa and online on Dec. 1.