21st Annual Trillium Book Award Finalists

Gil Adamson, The Outlander (House of Anansi Press)

Gil Adamson's extraordinary novel, which begins in 1903, is a thrilling account of a young widow’s escape into the wilderness after murdering her husband, where she falls further away from civilization and deeper into her own dark memory. As the young widow encounters characters of all stripes - unsavoury, wheedling, greedy, lascivious, self-reliant, and occasionally generous and trustworthy - Adamson weds her brilliant literary style to the gripping, moving, picaresque tale of one woman's deliberate journey into the wild.

Gil Adamson’s acclaimed short fiction has been widely published in magazines and literary journals, and her collection of stories received rave reviews. The Outlander, ten years in the writing, is her first novel. When Gil Adamson published her first two books, a volume of poetry (Primitive, 1991) and a collection of stories (Help Me, Jacques Cousteau, 1995), readers immediately recognized a unique and unusually compelling voice, one that partnered the random and the surreal with a finely tuned technical brilliance. The Outlander more than fulfills the promise of that voice, and was shortlisted for both the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Canada and the Caribbean) for Best Book, and the Hammett Prize for Crime-Writing.

Lorna Goodison, From Harvey River (McClelland & Stewart)

Lorna Goodison’s spellbinding memoir of her forebears, From Harvey River, combines family history with that of her beloved Jamaica. She describes how the Harveys settled the town named for them, how they met their respective spouses, and, in the case of her parents, how they adjusted to living in reduced circumstances in Kingston. Along the way she explores many tangents, each one an opportunity to introduce a cast of wonderfully drawn characters. In lush, vivid prose, textured with the cadences of Creole speech, she weaves together memory and mythology to create a vivid tapestry, and takes us deep into the heart of a complete world to tell a universal story of family and the ties that bind us to the place we call home.

Barbara Gowdy, Helpless (HarperCollins Publishers)

Helpless is Barbara Gowdy’s brilliant and provocative story of an unthinkable act and a mother’s heroic love for her child. Rachel is an uncommonly beautiful young girl. One summer night, when a summer blackout plunges the city into darkness, a fervent admirer- middle-aged appliance repairman named Ron - abducts her from her home. Set over the next two weeks, Helpless moves between the perspectives of Rachel, her mother, Celia, and Ron, whose feelings for Rachel grow less innocent by the day. Tapping into the fear and tension just below the surface of contemporary city life, Gowdy’s prose artfully urges us to consider what we dare not look at too closely. With her uncanny ability to lay bare our common soul and to explore the intricate complexities of love, Gowdy has created a masterful novel.

Barbara Gowdy is an award-winning author whose five previous books, The Romantic, The White Bone, Mister Sandman, We So Seldom Look on Love and Falling Angels, have appeared on bestseller lists throughout the world. The recipient of the Marian Engel Award in 1996, she has been a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and a repeat finalist for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. She lives in Toronto. Helpless was a finalist for both The Governor General’s Award for Fiction and The Giller Prize.

Robert Hough, The Culprits (Random House Canada)

A kaleidoscopic and riotous tale, voiced by one of the most unusual narrators in literary history, Robert Hough’s The Culprits puts shape and flesh to the murky unknowns surrounding a real-life terrorist incident and all that led up to it, shining a light into some of humanity’s most inscrutable sins. This novel is at once a mind-blowing hallucination and a classic love story, exploring the human thirsts for love and passion, for allegiance and trust, and for terrible vengeance.

Born in Toronto in 1963, Robert Hough knew he wanted to become a writer back in high school. After graduating in 1985 from the Queen’s University, where he wrote satirical articles for the arts paper, Hough worked briefly in advertising before becoming a journalist. For about a dozen years, he wrote for such magazines as Toronto Life and Saturday Night before turning to books. Hough’s first book, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, was shortlisted for both the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book and the Trillium Book Award and was sold into the US, the UK and at least twelve other countries. Hough lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters.

Dennis Lee, Yesno (House of Anansi Press)

Here is a stunning new collection of poetry by one of our most beloved and renowned poets. Yesno is a companion volume to the much-praised UN (Anansi, 2003), and continues Dennis Lee's urgent poetic project, which is to grapple with the question of the earth's and humankind's future. But where the earlier book concentrated on the deadly impasse to which we humans have brought the planet, Yesno is lighter and more playful, canvassing the possibility of hope. It explores an ethic of "yesno," simultaneously embracing pessimism and hope.

Dennis Lee is the author of more than twenty books for adults and children, including Civil Elegies (Anansi), which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, and the classic children's book Alligator Pie. Lee was one of the founders of House of Anansi Press forty years ago. In 2003 he was named Toronto's poet laureate.

Ray Robertson, What Happened Later (Thomas Allen Publishers)

Poetic, poignant, and clever, What Happened Later is a unique and engaging story of two lives forever changed by one book. Robertson’s novel explores parallel stories of Jack Kerouac’s last road trip to explore his French- Canadian roots, and the story of a small-town teenager named Ray Robertson who falls under the spell of Kerouac’s myth and embarks upon his own quest – to own a copy of Kerouac’s book On the Road. Interweaving the story of one man’s slow decline with one boy’s coming of age, What Happened Later explores the ever-shifting dualities of myth and reality, loss and hope, innocence and experience, endings and beginnings.

Ray Robertson is the author of the novels Home Movies, Heroes, Moody Food and Gently Down the Stream, and a collection of non-fiction, Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing. He is a contributing book reviewer at The Globe and Mail. He is also a frequent guest on CBC Radio’s Talking Books. 

Emily Schultz, Songs for the Dancing Chicken (ECW Press)

In Songs for the Dancing Chicken, Emily Schultz’s debut collection of poetry, the films and life of acclaimed director Werner Herzog become linguistic launch pads, jumping off points for subtle investigations into everyday life. Like her subject, Schultz uses hypnotic images to imbue that everyday life with profound insight. While fans of Herzog will recognize the details of his amazing life and words from Grizzly Man, Fitzcarraldo, Stroszek, and Nosferatu, Schultz finds the intersection between Herzog’s art and her own poetic voice with authority and verve. Songs for the Dancing Chicken is part fan letter, part dark cultural translation, and much, much more.

Emily Schultz is an award-winning writer and editor living in Toronto. Her first book, Black Coffee Night, was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award for Best First Fiction in Canada. Her recent novel, Joyland, received much critical acclaim, and her next novel, Heaven Is Small, is forthcoming from House of Anansi Press. A former editor of both Broken Pencil magazine and This Magazine, she currently teaches short story writing at George Brown College.

Rob Winger, Muybridge’s Horse (Nightwood Editions)

Part history, part invention, Muybridge’s Horse is a sensual biographical long poem that follows the career of Eadweard Muybridge, a nineteenth-century British-born photographer whose studies of bodies in motion led to the invention of moving pictures. Elegantly told, Muybridge’s Horse is an evocative exploration of history, personal obsession, passion and negatives.

Rob Winger grew up in a tiny Ontario town, and has since lived in eastern Canada and Asia. His work has been published in literary journals across the country, and selections from Muybridge’s Horse won first prize for poetry in English in the 2003 CBC Literary Awards judged by P.K. Page, Dionne Brand and George Bowering. Muybridge’s Horse was also shortlisted for the 2007 Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Currently at work at a doctoral degree in English and cultural studies, Winger lives with his family in Ottawa, Ontario, where he skates to work each winter.

Rachel Zolf, Human Resources (Coach House Books)

Poetry and ‘plain language’ collide in the writing machine that is Human Resources as writing is explored as a process of encryption. Navigating the crumbling boundaries among page, screen, reader, engine, writer and database, Human Resources investigates wasting words and rages at clichés that form common usage in business and media, and spoofs the way words are wasted and over-used.

Rachel Zolf lives in Toronto and was the founding poetry editor for Walrus magazine. She has worked as a documentary producer and communications consultant, and is the author of two previous poetry collections. Masque (The Mercury Press, 2004) was shortlisted for the 2005 Trillium Book Award for Poetry, and Her absence, this wanderer (Buschek Books, 1999) was a finalist in the CBC Literary Competition.

Andrée Christensen, Depuis toujours, j’entendais la mer (Les Éditions David )

An intriguing notebook. The sudden discovery of a new cousin from a tiny island in the North Sea. The somber, mysterious world of Danish archeologist Thorvald Sørensen slowly draws the reader in. A tragic birth and a lonely childhood with adoptive parents, Ingelise and Erland. Blind from birth, she introduces the child to the beauty of music in the dark of night. He is an undertaker and artist, dedicating his life to the preservation of the memory of the dead. After an astonishing introduction to love, Thorvald encounters a woman with no name. Their deep bond changes him forever—until his death. A beautiful death, gradually unfolding and openly embraced.

A native of Vanier, Ontario, Andrée Christensen has published 11 collections of poetry, a narrative history, five literary translations, and five livres d’artiste in collaboration with artists from Ontario and Quebec. Some of her work has been translated into English and Romanian. Depuis toujours, j’entendais la mer is her first novel.

Michel Dallaire, l’anarchie des innocences (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

A man withdraws from « the collective experience », rents a small apartment, logs onto the Internet, and leaves his apartment as little as possible. In spite of his efforts to forget the past, memories flood in and haunt him daily. In contrast to his solitary apartment, his computer screen begins to crowd, as he desperately attempts to become “other”.

Well-known poet, novelist, short story writer, and storyteller Michel Dallaire has six collections of poetry, four novels, and a collection of short stories to his credit. He has also produced three volumes of poetry with Daniel Bédard and written lyrics for the songs of many different musicians and artists. His novel entitled Terrains vagues, published in 1992 by VLB Éditeur, earned the Prix Jacques-Poirier at the Outaouais Book Fair, beating out 80 other works from across the country. l’anarchie des innocences is his twelfth book.

Gilles Lacombe, La Jouissance des nuages de la pensée (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

In this, his seventh collection of poetry, Gilles Lacombe draws us into a landscape in which life is as ephemeral as the rustling of leaves. The poet alone knows the path; simply follow. Slowly, the images become almost tactile, swirling in a dance that evokes all of the senses. There is no turning back on this voyage of self-discovery, no escaping the blaze of colours. One by one, like brushstrokes, they evoke all of our emotions. In this collection, Lacombe, who has said that he cannot stop writing on the world as if writing on sheets of light, delights us with poems that convey a thousand nuances of inner landscapes and memories, near and distant.

Gilles Lacombe was born in Lowertown Ottawa in 1946, and received an MA in French Literature in 1971, followed by PhD in French Literature from the University of Ottawa in 1991. His book, Trafiquante de lumière, received the Grand Prix du livre d’Ottawa, and another of his books, La mesure du ciel sur la terre won the Prix littéraire Le Droit . In addition to being the author of numerous books, including several collections of poetry, Gilles Lacombe is a painter, sketcher and sculptor whose works have been displayed in numerous exhibitions.

Pierre Raphaël Pelletier, L’Œil de la lumière (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

In reading L’œil de la lumière, we become aware of many realities that make up daily life, as we follow Pierre Raphaël Pelletier’s gaze into intimate, shadowy corners. Between birth and death, there is life, conveyed in these poems with rawness and sensitivity. In this collection, Pierre Raphaël Pelletier weaves into the stuff of life references to the world’s greatest painters and poets. He weaves in light and hope—opening up the possibility for each of us to achieve immortality, just as they did.

Pierre Raphaël Pelletier was born in 1946 somewhere along the banks of the Ottawa River—on the Quebec side or the Ontario side—he’s not sure which. Borders have never been that important to him. He has published 10 books and, since 1965, his paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works of arts have been exhibited across Canada.

Richard Poulin, Enfances dévastées, tome 1 : L’Enfer de la prostitution (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

Enfances dévastées, tome I : L’Enfer de la prostitution examines the development of human trafficking and sex tourism over the past 40 years. This tragedy affects millions of children around the world, especially young girls. One of Poulin’s conclusions is that the children forced into prostitution are increasingly younger. In the Western nations, the average age at which a young person enters prostitution is 14 years, whereas in the developing world, prostitution begins at an even younger age. Enfances dévastées, tome I : L’Enfer de la prostitution is the first volume of a much broader research project that will focus next on pornography and the early sexualization of children.

A professor of sociology at the University of Ottawa, Richard Poulin is also an essayist, novelist, and short story writer. Written under the pseudonym Skip Moën, his novel, Gouverneur du crépuscule, won the 2001 Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada. 

Michèle Vinet, Parce que chanter c’est trop dur (Prise de parole)

Like their new friends Pierre and Luc, Mirabelle and Chantale live and breathe the theatre. The four become inseparable and found a theatre company that becomes an international success. But things start to go wrong when Mirabelle develops writer’s block. Parce que chanter c’est trop dur is a contemporary tale that conveys Michèle Vinet’s own love of words and passion for the theatre.

Michèle Vinet has a successful career in film, television, and theatre. The characters in her novel reflect her own passion for “the boards”.

Tina Charlebois, Poils lisses (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

Poils lisses is Tina Charlebois’ second collection of poetry. In it, we find many of the themes addressed in her first collection, Tatouages et testaments, such as family, love, relationships, and Ontario’s Francophone community. The tone of her second collection is more somber; Poils lisses contains poems about family and more glimpses into the daily life of a Franco-Ontarian. Charlebois does not try to insert minority literature into mainstream literature; rather, she invites the reader into the poetry of her daily life.

Tina Charlebois was born into a Franco-Ontarian family in the English-speaking community of Iroquois in southeastern Ontario. After exploring the Rockies for several years, she has now returned to her native province to teach young people about life and the search for identity.

Christian Milat, Douleureuse aurore (Les Éditions David)

For most of us, our birth remains shrouded in mystery. Who better than a poet to embark on a journey back to this painful awakening? And who better to awaken in the reader a cellular memory of birth? Dear reader, linger with these words, allowing them to breathe new life into you!

Christian Milat, a professor of French at the University of Ottawa, has published many books and articles, primarily about the 20^th century French novel. He has also written several works of fiction, for which he won the Ottawa Public Library Short Story Contest in 2004, 2005, and 2007. Douloureuse aurore is his first collection of poetry.