Joseph Boyden won Canada’s Giller Prize for his second novel THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE, after having been favored to win the award three years ago for his debut, THREE DAY ROAD. Juror Margaret Atwood praised the book “for its spare prose style that ranges from lyrical to brutal … and that shows us unforgettable characters and a northern landscape in a way we have never seen before.” Viking has the book scheduled for March 2009 release in the US.
Mary Swan’s THE BOYS IN THE TREES had been the “overwhelming” favorite in the Guess the Giller contest, run through 30 public library systems, 175 bookstores (including Chapters Indigo), and beyond. For the past three years, the audience “guess” had matched the judge’s selection.
Globe and Mail