Winners of the 2025 English-language Governor General’s Literary Awards.

The Canada Council for the Arts has announced the 14 winners of the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Awards.

A first novel, a debut memoir, a new poetry collection from an award-winning poet, and a translation presented in a dual-language edition (Innu-Aimun and English) are among this year’s English-language winners.

Winning writers, illustrators, and translators receive $25,000, while publishers receive $3,000 to promote the winning titles. Finalists, who were announced last month, each receive $1,000.

The English-language winners are:

Fiction

• Small Ceremonies by Kyle Edwards (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)

Poetry

• Wellwater by Karen Solie (House of Anansi Press)

Drama

• Rise, Red River by Tara Beagan (Playwrights Canada Press)

Nonfiction

• How to Survive a Bear Attack by Claire Cameron (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)

Young People’s Literature – Text

• Tig by Heather Smith (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)

Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

• This Land is a Lullaby by Tonya Simpson and Delreé Dumont, illus. (Orca Book Publishers)

Translation (from French to English)

• Uiesh / Somewhere by Jessica Moore (Talonbooks), translation of Uiesh / Quelque part, by Joséphine Bacon

Winners in the French-language winners are listed on the GGBooks website.

Finalists and winners were selected by category-specific peer assessment committees. Committees considered more than 1,500 nominated books this year. Eligible books were those published August 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.