The Governor General’s Literary Awards were inaugurated in 1937 when Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps) honoured the best books of 1936. The GGs have since evolved into Canada’s pre-eminent national literary awards. Launched by the Canadian Authors Association, the awards were at first non-monetary prizes for the best works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama written in English or translated from French into English.
The Canada Council for the Arts assumed responsibility for funding, administering and adjudicating the awards in 1959, and added prizes for works written in French. In 1987, the Council’s Prizes for Children’s Literature (text and illustration) and Translation were made Governor General’s Literary Awards.
Established in 1937. Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts.