Hamilton writer Anuja Varghese has won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction for her short story collection. Chrysalis.

Chrysalis is among 14 titles, seven in English and seven in French, that were recognized by the Governor General’s Literary Awards as the best books of 2023.

The awards, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are awarded in seven categories in English: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, young people’s literature (text), young people’s literature: illustration, drama, and translation from French to English. French language prizes are also awarded in the same categories. A total of $450,000 is awarded annually across all prizes.

The winner of each category will receive $25,000. The remaining finalists will each receive $1,000.

Books published between August 1, 2022 and July 31, 2023 were eligible for the 2023 awards. Finalists and winners are chosen by a peer review committee for each category.

Chrysalis is a collection of short stories that focuses on South Asian women and shows how they reclaim their power in a world that constantly undermines them. Exploring sexuality, family, and cultural norms, this collection is about desire and transformation.

“I never saw myself in the books I read. And I think that’s changing now,” he said in an interview with The next chapter. ““There’s rarely that kind of energy from the main character, especially for brown women, especially for queer brown women.”

Toronto-based author Kyo Maclear won the non-fiction category for her memoir. digging up. After her father who raised her dies, she discovers that he is not biologically related to her. In this memoir, she reveals the story of her biological father and explores what it really means to be a family.

Winnipeg writer Hannah Green won the poetry category for her collection, Xanax Jeanwhich follows a whiskey-drinking, pill-popping woman with a rattlesnake reputation.

Green book cover that has an overlay of text and an image of a plant with yellow paint-like strokes.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare: A Radical Version, a subversive update of Shakespeare’s classic from an indigenous perspective, by playwright and actor Cliff Cardinal, won the drama category.

Alberta-based Sarah Everett won the YA text category for her YA novel. The probability of everything while Jack Wong, from Halifax, won in the children’s literature picture book category for his picture book. When you can swim.

Rosa’s own personal revolutionwritten by Éric Dupont and translated by Peter McCambridge won the French to English translation prize.

The Governor General’s Literary Awards were created in 1936. Previous winners include Thomas King, Madeleine Thien, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood.

He Canada Council for the Arts is a partner of the CBC Literary Awards. The CBC Non-Fiction Prize will open in January, the CBC Poetry Prize will open in April and the CBC Short Story Prize will open in September.

Read on to learn more about the winners of the 2023 Governor General’s English Literary Award.

The cover of one book features an illustration of a moth on some leaves and a photograph of the book's author, a woman with long black hair wearing a purple shirt. — Chrysalis is a book by Anuja Varghese. (Anansi House Press, www.anujavarghese.com)

Chrysalis is a collection of short stories that examines the ways in which racialized women are undermined and exploited and the ways in which they reclaim their power. Combining realism with elements of fantasy, Varghese tells stories of a woman who repeatedly dies in her sleep until she finds an unexpected refuge or of a couple in a broken marriage who finds spiritual direction. Each story examines family, sexuality, cultural norms, and the bonds that bind them.

Anuja Varghese is a writer and editor living in Hamilton, Ontario. Her stories have been recognized in the Prism International Short Fiction Competition and the Alice Munro Festival Short Story Competition and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Chrysalis It is his first book.

The peer review committee consisted of Carleigh Baker, Neil Bissoondath and Jessica Westhead.

LISTEN | Anuja Varghese analyzes Chrysalis in The next chapter:

The next chapter13:48Anuja Varghese’s short story collection burns with desire and transformation

featured videoHamilton-based writer Anuja Varghese shares the inspiration behind her first short story collection, Chrysalis.

On the left is a green book cover with text that looks like yellow paint and an image of a plant superimposed on the cover. On the right is a photo of a woman smiling and looking to the right. — Discovering is a book by Kyo Maclear. (Knopf Canada)

After the death of Kyo Maclear’s father, a DNA test shows that she is not biologically related to the father who raised her. Maclear embarks on a journey to unravel the family mystery and discover the story of her biological father, raising questions about kinship and what it means to be family in digging up.

Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. Her books have been translated into 15 languages, won the Governor General’s Literary Award, and were nominated for the TD Award for Canadian Children’s Literature, among others. his memories Birds Art Life It was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction and won the 2018 Trillium Book Award.

The peer review committee consisted of KatłĮà Lafferty, Lorri Neilsen Glenn and Rinaldo Walcott.

LISTEN | Kyo Maclear in digging up:

The next chapter20:27Kyo Maclear on the discovery

featured videoShelagh Rogers talks to Kyo Maclear about the author’s journey to self-discovery in the memoir Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Families Secrets.

The cover of the book is yellow with black letters that say: "House of Anansi Press Xanax Cowboy Poems written and directed by Hannah Green." — Cowboy Xanax is a book by Hannah Green. (House of Anansi Press, Hannah Green)

Xanax Jean is a collection of poetry that follows the adventures of the Xanax cowboy, a pill-popping, whiskey-drinking woman with a reputation as a rattlesnake.

Hannah Green is a poetry writer and editor based in Winnipeg. She was a poetry finalist for the 2021 Bronwen Wallace Prize for Emerging Writers.

The peer review committee consisted of Mary Dalton, Moez Surani and Gillian Sze.

Composite image. On the left: the cover of a book with intertwined tree roots. On the right: a man standing in front of a red curtain with his right hand on his chest. — As You Like It is a work by Cliff Cardinal. (Dalia Katz)

As You Like It by William Shakespeare: A Radical Version is a subversive update of Shakespeare’s classic with an indigenous perspective. It balances bawdy humor and raw emotions to challenge Canada’s relationship with indigenous people.

Cliff Cardinal is a playwright and actor born on the Pine Ridge Reservation. His work has been recognized with the Buddies in Bad Times Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation, the RBC Tarragon Emerging Playwright Award, and the REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award. Cardinal has also written a play called Angry and stitch.

The peer review committee consisted of Aaron Bushkowsky, Tai Amy Grauman, and Julie Tamiko Manning.

LISTEN | Cliff Cardinal on his work Land Recognition, or As You Like:

q20:42Cliff Cardinal on his confrontational work The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It

featured videoPlaywright Cliff Cardinal talks about subverting audience expectations and laughing in the face of trauma.

A black woman with curly hair and glasses looks at the camera. A book cover of a girl in a dress standing in the rain. — The Chance of Everything is a novel by Sarah Everett. (Cassandra Williams, HarperCollins)

The probability of everything follows 11-year-old Kemi Carter, an avid probability fan. When she sees an asteroid floating above the sky, her perspective on everything changes. The asteroid has an 84.7 percent chance of colliding with Earth within four days. Is she the only one who feels like the world is ending?

Sarah Everett is the author of several books for teens and currently resides in Alberta. His first novel is Some others now.

The peer review committee consisted of Cheryl Foggo, June Hur and Tom Ryan.

When you can swim is an illustrated book that encourages children to overcome their fears of water. In the book, an adult explains to a girl the pleasures and surprises of swimming.

When you can swim It is for ages 4 to 8 years.

Jack Wong is a Halifax-based author and illustrator who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Vancouver. When you can swim It is his first book.

The peer review committee consisted of Marianne Ferrer, Lee Edward Födi and Mahak Jain.

On the left, a book cover shows an illustration of a girl in a swimsuit and goggles in the water. On the right, a man with glasses and a black shirt smiles at the camera. — When You Can Swim is an illustrated book by writer Jack Wong. (Scholastic Canada, Nicola Davidson)

Rosa’s own personal revolution follows the story of Rosa Ost, who grows up in Notre-Dame-du-Cachalot, as she moves from her small town to the big city of Montreal. It is an adventure full of long journeys and disturbing dreams, which shows that revolutions in Quebec are not always silent.

Peter McCambridge is a literary translator originally from Ireland and now based in Quebec City. He also translated Eric Dupont’s book. Songs for the cold of the heartoriginally The American Bride that was in List of finalists for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for 2018 Governor General’s Literary Translation Award.

Eric Dupont is an author, teacher and translator from Montreal. His novel in French La Logeuse won the Radio-Canada version of Canada reads, pound fights. She was a finalist for the Prix littéraire France-Québec and the Prix des cinq continents. He was the winner of the Prix littéraire des collégiens and the Prix des libraires.

The peer review committee was made up of Bilal Hashmi, Melissa Bull and Pablo Strauss.