Complex sentence: Bessette's novel "Le cycle" (1971) won the Governor General's Award, and in 1980 he was awarded the Prix Athanase-David, Quebec's highest literary honour.
Split into simpler sentences: Bessette's novel "Le cycle" (1971) was the winner of a Governor General's Award. In 1980, he won the Prix Athanase-David, Quebec's highest literary honour.