Culture

Former broadcaster wins Canada's top literary prize

by Ray Keating | November 7, 2007 at 05:32 am

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It's nice to see prestigious prizes like this go to Canadians who live in fringe areas. Whether it's writers from the Arctic or musicians from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Cape Breton and Newfoundland, it stands as a testament to the fact that the creative mind will find an outlet. In the absence of a wide variety of cultural outlets, these regions have produced some of Canada’s best known musical, artistic and literary figures.

A novel by a former radio broadcaster in Canada's north won the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada's most lucrative and prestigious prize for fiction.

Elizabeth Hay's "Late Nights on Air" details the loves and rivalries of a cast of eccentric characters at a small radio station in Yellowknife, near Canada's Arctic.

"I feel very lucky, so lucky in fact that I will probably be hit by a truck tomorrow so it is important that I say my thank-you's now," said Hay, who was previously nominated for the prize in 2000 for "A Student of Weather."

Michael Ondaatje, author of "The English Patient" was short-listed for prize for his novel, "Divisadero." He jointly won the Giller Prize in 2000 for "Anil's Ghost."