The winners were announced by Simon Brault, vice-chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, and Melanie Rutledge, head of the Council's Writing and Publishing section, at a news conference in Montreal. They will be presented with their awards by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada, at Rideau Hall on December 13. This year marks the 71st presentation of the GGs, Canada's oldest and most prestigious awards for English- and French-language Canadian literature.

Nine of this year's winners are receiving Governor General's Literary Awards for the first time. For Michael Ondaatje, winner of the 2007 award in English-language fiction for Divisadero, this is his fifth award, tying the record set by the late Hugh MacLennan for the most Governor General's Awards in the prize's history. Other previous winners receiving awards this year include Daniel Danis (French-language drama), Serge Patrice Thibodeau (French-language poetry), Nigel Spencer (French-to-English translation), and collaborators Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagne (English-to-French translation).

"To hold a book in our hands is to hold a promise of freedom, discovery and adventure," said the Governor General. "Getting caught up in words and phrases, discovering worlds that others have created, travelling through time and space, accessing knowledge: there is no greater joy than reading! Let us celebrate these writers, those who awaken our senses and lead us down unexpected, unimagined and brilliant paths."

The Canada Council for the Arts funds, administers and promotes the Governor General's Literary Awards. For the first time, the value of each award will be $25,000, increased from $15,000 in celebration of the Canada Council's 50th anniversary. Each winner will also receive a specially-crafted copy of the winning book bound by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois. The publisher of each winning book will receive $3,000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists will each receive $1,000 in recognition of their selection as finalists, bringing the total value of the Awards to approximately $450,000.

BMO Financial Group has been the sponsor of the GGs since 1988, providing support for the promotion of the winners and finalists.

"We are proud to support Canada's literary excellence and join the Canada Council in congratulating this year's laureates," said Gilles Ouellette, President and CEO, Private Client Group and Deputy Chairman, BMO Nesbitt Burns. "These authors, illustrators and translators are a true reflection of the diversity and geography of Canada and its literature. BMO is proud to celebrate their important contribution through the promotion of their works in bookstores, schools, libraries and events across the country."

The names of the Drama section winners and titles of their works are listed below, together with jury comments for each work. Biographical information and downloadable images are posted on the Canada Council's web site at www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggla.

Drama

Colleen Murphy, Toronto, for The December Man (L'homme de decembre)
(Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by publisher) (ISBN 978 - 0 - 88754
-595-5)
The December Man (L'homme de decembre) is a tragedy in which the humanity
of the characters gives the play a surprising buoyancy. Heartbreaking yet
never sentimental, spare yet complex, with a flawless structure, this is a
brave and important play.

Daniel Danis, St-David-de-Falardeau (QC), for Le chant du Dire-Dire
(Lemeac Editeur; distributed by Prologue) (ISBN 978-2-7609-0402-6)
Revealing the language of a great contemporary poet, this fable by Daniel
Danis - terrifying and magnificent, violent and sensual, with a deviant
oral character - connects with the great mythological tales.