September 26, 2016
The Best Kind of People 
by Zoe Whittall and Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
 Shortlisted for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize! 

Zoe Whittall

The 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist has been announced today, and we are delighted to  congratulate Zoe Whittall on being shortlisted for her novel THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE (House of Anansi Press) and Gary Barwin on his nomination for YIDDISH FOR PIRATES (Random House Canada)! Selected from a longlist of 12 books, the jury members Lawrence Hill (jury chair), Jeet Heer, Kathleen Winter, Samantha Harvey and Alan Warner originally read a staggering 161 books submitted by 69 publisher imprints from every region of the country in order to reach their decision.

Jury Citations

YIDDISH FOR PIRATES: "Across time and across continents, Gary Barwin's novel "parrots" in an altogether new way. In a ferment of salty witticism, parroty puns and unforgettable Yiddish vocabulary, this is a novel borne not just on the wings of its feathery narrator, but on its own jubilant and alluring language; its own voice. Playful, mocking, using history with audacious abandon, Yiddish for Pirates is a resplendent enjoyment. But, literally viewed from above, the novel also admonishes us about man's inexhaustible zeal for butchery, for incessant genocide, and for affliction. We have had animal narrators throughout literary history, but Aaron the African grey parrot, from the shoulder of his pirate master, will lift you to new heights."

THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE: "The jury found Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People urgent and timely, nuanced and brave. This gripping story challenges how we hear women and girls, and dissects the self-hypnosis and fear that prevent us from speaking disruptive truth. With subversive precision and solid veracity, Whittall calls into question pervasive forms of silence and acquiescence."

For more information about The Best Kind of People
World rights, House of Anansi (ex: Canada available). TV/film available. Contact: samantha@transatlanticagency.com

For more information about 
Yiddish for Pirates
Canada English, Random House Canada, New Face of Fiction, 2016.  World Rights Available.  Film Rights Available.  Contact: shaun@transatlanticagency.com  

 
About YIDDISH FOR PIRATES:
YIDDISH FOR PIRATES by Gary Barwin is a brilliant novel filled with Jewish takes on classic pirate tales - fights, prison escapes, and exploits on the high seas - but it's also a tender love story. Rich with puns, colourful language, post-colonial satire and Kabbalistic hijinks, YIDDISH FOR PIRATES is also a compelling examination of mortality, memory, identity and persecution, from one of this country's most talented writers.

About THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE:
In T HE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE by Zoe Whittall, George Woodbury, an affable teacher and beloved husband and father, is arrested for sexual impropriety at a prestigious prep school. With George locked up, how do the members of his family pick up the pieces and keep living their lives? How do they defend someone they love while wrestling with the possibility of his guilt?

With exquisite emotional precision, award-winning author Zoe Whittall explores issues of loyalty, truth and the meaning of happiness through the lend of all-American family on the brink of collapse.


About Zoe Whittall
Zoe Whittall is the author of The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life (2001), The Emily Valentine Poems (2006), and Precordial Thump (2008), and the editor of Geeks, Misfits, & Outlaws (2003). Her debut novel Bottle Rocket Hearts (2007) made the Globe and Mail Top 100 Books of the Year and CBC Canada Reads' Top Ten Essential Novels of the Decade. Her second novel Holding Still for as Long as Possible (2009) won a Lambda Literary Award and was an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her writing has appeared in the Walrus, the Believer, the Globe and Mail, the National PostFashion, and more. She has also worked as a writer and story editor on the TV shows Degrassi and Schitt's Creek. Born in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, she has an MFA from the University of Guelph and lives in Toronto.

About Gary Barwin: 
Gary Barwin is a writer, composer, and multimedia artist, and the author of 20 books of poetry, fiction and books for children. His recent books include the short fiction collection I, Dr Greenblatt, Orthodontist, 251-1457 and the poetry collections Moon Baboon Canoe and The Wild and Unfathomable Always. A PhD in music composition, Barwin has been Writer-in-Residence at Western University and Young Voices eWriter-in-residence at the Toronto Public Library and has taught creative writing at a number of colleges and universities. Born in Northern Ireland to South African parents of Ashkenazi descent, Barwin moved to Canada as a child. He is married with three adult children, and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. 
The winner will be announced on November 7th, 2016. For venue and ticket information, please visit:  Scotiabankgillerprize.ca.

To view the full shortlist and to read excerpts from the books, please visit  www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/finalists/2016-shortlist/.
 
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