A sure sign the fall literary season is underway, the Scotiabank Giller Prize has announced its first round of nominees for 2011. The 17-title longlist “ the largest since the prize began announcing it in 2006 “ pits newcomers (Edugyan, deWitt, Bezmozgis) against a past Giller winner (Ondaatje) and former nominees (Vanderhaeghe, Johnston, Endicott):

• David Bezmozgis, The Free World (HarperCollins Canada)
• Clarke Blaise, The Meagre Tarmac (Biblioasis)
• Lynn Coady, The Antagonist (House of Anansi Press)
• Michael Christie, The Beggar’s Garden (HarperCollins Canada)
• Patrick DeWitt, The Sisters Brothers (House of Anansi Press)
• Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues (Thomas Allen Publishers)
• Marina Endicott, The Little Shadows (Doubleday Canada)
• Zsuzsi Gartner, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives (Hamish Hamilton Canada)
• Genni Gunn, Solitaria (Signature Editions)
• Pauline Holdstock, Into the Heart of the Country (HarperCollins Canada)
• Wayne Johnston, A World Elsewhere (Knopf Canada)
• Dany Laferrière, The Return (David Homel, trans.) (Douglas & McIntyre)
• Suzette Mayr, Monoceros (Coach House Books)
• Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table (McClelland & Stewart)
• Guy Vanderhaeghe, A Good Man (McClelland & Stewart)
• Alexi Zentner, Touch (Knopf Canada)
• *CBC Books Readers’ Choice selection: Myrna Dey, Extensions (NeWest Press)

HarperCollins Canada and Random House of Canada lead the nominations with three apiece; House of Anansi Press and McClelland & Stewart each has multiple nominations as well.