# 2004 Governor General's Awards

The 2004 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (68 books) were announced October 26, the four children's literature winners announced and presented November 15, other winners announced and presented November 16. The prize for writers and illustrators was $15,000 and "a specially crafted copy of the winning book bound by master bookbinder Pierre Ouvrard".
As introduced in 2003, the four children's literature awards were announced and presented separately from the others. The event at Rideau Hall, the Governor General's residence in Ottawa, was scheduled to begin at 10:00 on a Monday morning. "Children from across the National Capital Region will be invited to attend the event, which will also include readings and workshops related to children's literature.

## English

| Category | Winner | Nominated |
| Fiction | Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness | David Bezmozgis, Natasha and Other Stories Trevor Cole, Norman Bray, In the Performance of His Life Colin McAdam, Some Great Thing Alice Munro, Runaway |
| Non-fiction | Roméo Dallaire, Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda | Anne Coleman, I'll Tell You a Secret: A Memory of Seven Summers Christopher Dewdney, Acquainted With the Night: Excursions Through the World After Dark Jane Jacobs, Dark Age Ahead Jan Zwicky, Wisdom & Metaphor |
| Poetry | Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida | Tim Bowling, The Memory Orchard David Manicom, The Burning Eaves John Terpstra, Disarmament Jan Zwicky, Robinson's Crossing |
| Drama | Morris Panych, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl | Robert Chafe, Butler's Marsh and Tempting Providence Michael Healey, Rune Arlidge Karen Hines, The Pochsy Plays Mieko Ouchi, The Red Priest (Eight Ways to Say Goodbye) |
| Children's literature | Kenneth Oppel, Airborn | Martine Leavitt, Heck Superhero Sharon MacKay, Esther Judd Palmer, The Wolf King Ange Zhang, Red Land, Yellow River: A Story from the Cultural Revolution |
| Children's illustration | Stéphane Jorisch, Jabberwocky | Nicolas Debon, Dawn Watch Marie-Louise Gay, Stella, Princess of the Sky Kim LaFave, A Very Unusual Dog Barbara Reid, Peg and the Yeti |
| French to English translation | Judith Cowan, Mirabel (Pierre Nepveu, Lignes aériennes) | Sheila Fischman, The Alien House (Élise Turcotte) Liedewy Hawke, The Iguana (Denis Thériault) |

## French

| Category | Winner | Nominated |
| Fiction | Pascale Quiviger, Le cercle parfait | Marguerite Andersen, Parallèles Katerine Caron, Vous devez être heureuse Sergio Kokis, Les amants d'Alfama Didier Leclair, Ce pays qui est le mien |
| Non-fiction | Jean-Jacques Simard, La Réduction: l'Autochtone inventé et les Amérindiens d'aujourd'hui | Jean-Marie Fecteau, La liberté du pauvre : crime et pauvreté au XIXe siècle québécois Brian T. Fitch, Le langage de la pensée et l'écriture : Humboldt, Valéry, Beckett Yvan Lamonde, Histoire sociale des idées au Québec (1896–1929) Roseline Tremblay, L'écrivain imaginaire: essai sur le roman québécois, 1960–1995 |
| Poetry | André Brochu, Les jours à vif | Paul Bélanger, Les jours de l'éclipse Mario Brassard, Choix d'apocalypses Louise Dupré, Une écharde sous ton ongle Pierre Ouellet, Zone franche: liber asylum |
| Drama | Emma Haché, L'intimité | Franco Catanzariti, Sahel Alexis Martin, Bureaux Jean-Frédéric Messier, Au moment de sa disparition Reynald Robinson, La salle des loisirs |
| Children's literature | Nicole Leroux, L'Hiver de Léo Polatouche | Édith Bourget, Autour de Gabrielle Charlotte Gingras, La boîte à bonheur Marie-Francine Hébert, Le ciel tombe à côté Nancy Montour, Le coeur au vent |
| Children's illustration | Janice Nadeau, Nul poisson où aller | Francine Bouchard (Fanny), Le grand rêve de Passepoil Pascale Constantin, Turlututu, rien ne va plus! Samuel Parent (Sampar), Savais-tu? Les Hyènes Alain Reno, Comment l'ours blanc perdit sa queue |
| English to French translation | Ivan Steenhout, Les Indes accidentelles (Robert Finley, The Accidental Indies) | Claire Dé, Le cahier d'Hellman (Robert Majzels) Carole Noël, Ce qu'il nous reste (Aislinn Hunter) Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Le Pas de l'ourse (Douglas Glover, Elle) Claudine Vivier, La Rivière disparue (Brian Doyle, Mary Ann Alice) |