Alexis methodically intertwines story and setting, making them inseparable and sharply human. It all sounds rather convoluted, but hey, creating a thematic literary universe of stand-alone novels doesn’t exactly sound easy.įor deeply literary folk who relish Americana works like Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, launch yourself into 21st century books in your own backyard. Days by Moonlight is the fourth book published and last in the series chronology. He won the 2015 Giller Prize for his delightfully existential Fifteen Dogs, the second entry in his Quincunx Cycle (a fun way of saying five-book series). MacDonald, house burnings, and many more bizarre entities.Īlexis has written a slew of acclaimed books and shows no signs of slowing down. As the characters are thrust into a Gothic fantasy version of Southern Ontario, André Alexis’ Days by Moonlight is a surreal and spectacular Canadian road trip novel that travels to rural towns that are home to an Indigenous parade throwing fruit at people dressed as John A. UPDATE on winner:Ĭongratulations to Ian Williams on his big win for Reproduction! The guy’s first crack at a novel was a home run.Īfter his parent’s death and breakup with his girlfriend, botanist Alfred Homer is recruited by Professor Morgan Bruno to embark on a roadtrip in search of poet John Skennen’s ghost. The winner will be announced November 18, and it’s anyone’s guess now.

Oh boy were we ever wrong in our predictions! Congratulations to the six shortlisted authors! Check out below to see who made the cut.

Without further adieu, let’s get started. To give you a taste of where your interests might lie, we’ve broken down the nominees and briefly discussed their plot, author, likelihood of winning the top prize, and who should read them. It’s one of the highest prizes in Canadian literature and also really fun to follow. With the prize being a whopping $100,000 CAD, it’s not surprising that it’s a prize authors are keen to win. It’s worth noting though that there are plenty of amazing books that didn’t make the cut.Įach year, twelve books in the genre of literary fiction are longlisted and five are shortlisted before a winner is announced. For those new to Canadian literary awards but wanting to dive into a good ol’ homegrown book, this list is an excellent start.

Welcome one and all to the 2019 Giller Prize! The longlist was announced last week and we’ve got an interesting mix of contenders this year.

Late Breaking by K.D. Miller