Anne Michaels has won the Giller Prize, given annually to an outstanding work of Canadian fiction, for her novel Held, the Associated Press reports.
Michaels’ novel, published in the U.S. by Knopf in January, tells the story of multiple generations affected by war, focusing initially on John, a British soldier who survives a severe injury during a World War I battle. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the novel, which was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize, “a gorgeous meditation on whether the ghost in the machine is actually in our hearts.”
In her acceptance speech for the award, Michaels said, “Everything I write is a form of witness against war, indifference, against amnesia of every sort.…Literature situates us morally. It recognizes the crucial distinction between what is impossible and what is futile. Everything I write is against futility. There is no moral righteousness. There is only morality.”
The Giller Prize has been the subject of controversy over its connection to Scotiabank, the main sponsor of the award, previously known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Scotiabank has a stake in Elbit Systems, the Israeli arms manufacturer.
Last week, previous Giller winner Madeleine Thien (Do Not Say We Have Nothing) sent a letter to the prize’s board of directors asking that references to her and her book be scrubbed from the Giller website. Protestors demonstrated outside the Giller Prize ceremony on Monday night, some carrying a banner that read “Boycott Giller Gala.”
The Giller Prize was established in 1994. Previous winners include Rohinton Mistry for A Fine Balance, Esi Edugyan for Half-Blood Bluesand Washington Black, and Omar El Akkad for What Strange Paradise.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
