# 2005 Governor General's Awards

The 2005 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (69 books) were announced October 17, winners announced November 16. The four children's literature awards were presented November 22, others presented November 23. The prize for writers and illustrators was $15,000 and "a specially crafted copy of the winning book bound by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois".
The winners were announced at the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec in Montreal, rather than at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, "[i]n honour of the designation of Montreal as UNESCO World Book Capital for 2005–2006".
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 Tuesday morning. "Children from across the National Capital Region will be invited to attend the event, which will also include readings and workshops by the award winners."

## English

| Category | Winner | Nominated |
| Fiction | David Gilmour, A Perfect Night to Go to China | Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road Golda Fried, Nellcott is My Darling Charlotte Gill, Ladykiller Kathy Page, Alphabet |
| Non-fiction | John Vaillant, The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed | Ted Bishop, Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books Michael Mitchell, The Molly Fire Edward Shorter, Written in the Flesh: A History of Desire Jessica Warner, The Incendiary: The Misadventures of John the Painter, First Modern Terrorist |
| Poetry | Anne Compton, Processional | Barry Dempster, The Burning Alphabet Erín Moure, Little Theatres W. H. New, Underwood Log Olive Senior, Over the Roofs of the World |
| Drama | John Mighton, Half Life | Marjorie Chan, China Doll Don Druick, Through the Eyes Daniel MacIvor, Cul-de-sac Richard Sanger, Two Words for Snow |
| Children's literature | Pamela Porter, The Crazy Man | Francis Chalifour, After Barbara Nickel, Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach Gail Nyoka, Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale Shyam Selvadurai, Swimming in the Monsoon Sea |
| Children's illustration | Rob Gonsalves, Imagine a Day (Sarah L. Thomson) | Kyrsten Brooker, City Angel (Eileen Spinelli) Wallace Edwards, Mixed Beasts (Kenyon Cox) Murray Kimber, The Highwayman (Alfred Noyes) Rajka Kupesic, Maria Chapdelaine (Louis Hémon) |
| French to English translation | Fred A. Reed, Truth or Death: The Quest for Immortality in the Western Narrative Tradition (Thierry Hentsch, Raconter et mourir : aux sources narratives de l'imaginaire occidental) | Jane Brierley, America: The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Dawn of a New Power (Denis Vaugeois, America, 1803-1853 : l'expédition de Lewis & Clark et la naissance d'une nouvelle puissance) Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood, Yesterday, at the Hotel Clarendon (Nicole Brossard, Hier) Wayne Grady, Return from Africa (Francine D'Amour, Le Retour d'Afrique) Fred A. Reed and David Homel, All that Glitters (Martine Desjardins, L'Élu du hasard) |

## French

| Category | Winner | Nominated |
| Fiction | Aki Shimazaki, Hotaru | Marie-Claire Blais, Augustino et le chœur de la destruction Nicolas Dickner, Nikolski Christiane Frenette, Après la nuit rouge Guy Lalancette, Un amour empoulaillé |
| Non-fiction | Michel Bock, Quand la nation débordait les frontières: les minorités françaises dans la pensée de Lionel Groulx | Paul Bleteau and Mario Poirier, Le vagabond stoïque: Louis Hémon Gilles Dostaler, Keynes et ses combats Éric Méchoulan, Le livre avalé: de la littérature entre mémoire et culture (XVIe – XVIIIe siècle) Sébastien Vincent, Laissés dans l'ombre: les Québécois engagés volontaires de 39-45 (ou quatorze Québécois racontent leur participation volontaire à la Seconde Guerre mondiale) |
| Poetry | Jean-Marc Desgent, Vingtièmes siècles | Marc André Brouillette, M'accompagne François Dumont, Brisures Danielle Fournier, Il n'y a rien d'intact dans ma chair Fernand Ouellette, L'Inoubliable: Chronique I |
| Drama | Geneviève Billette, Le Pays des genoux | Jean-Rock Gaudreault, Pour ceux qui croient que la Terre est ronde François Godin, Louisiane Nord Marie-Christine Lê-Huu, Jouliks |
| Children's literature | Camille Bouchard, Le Ricanement des hyènes | Alain M. Bergeron, Les Tempêtes ou Les mémoires d'un Beatle raté Jean-Pierre Davidts, Le Baiser de la sangsue Danielle Marcotte, Les sabots rouges Sylvain Meunier, L'homme à la bicyclette |
| Children's illustration | Isabelle Arsenault, Le cœur de monsieur Gauguin (Marie-Danielle Croteau) | Pascale Constantin, La vie comptée de Raoul Lecompte (Gilles Tibo) Luc Melanson, Les compositeurs (Claudio Ricignuolo) Stéphane Poulin, Un chant de Noël (Lucie Papineau) Pierre Pratt, Le jour où Zoé zozota (Pierre Pratt) |
| English to French translation | Rachel Martinez, Glenn Gould: une vie (Kevin Bazzana, Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould) | Benoit Léger, Miracles en série (Carol Shields, Various Miracles) Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Drôle de tendresse (Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness) Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, La fille du Kamikaze (Kerri Sakamoto, One Hundred Million Hearts) Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Le Vol du corbeau (Ann-Marie MacDonald, The Way the Crow Flies) |