Scotiabank Alt-Giller Shortlist

Today the Scotiabank Giller Prize jury of novelists Howard Norman, Andrew O’Hagan and Annabel Lyon announced the results of their culling of the Giller longlist of 17 down to a shortlist of 6. Congratulations to all the authors who have made it to the official 2011 Scotiabank Giller shortlist:

David Bezmozgis	The Free World
Lynn Coady	The Antagonist
Patrick deWitt	The Sisters Brothers
Esi Edugyan	Half-Blood Blues
Michael Ondaatje	Cat's Table
Zsuzsi Gartner	Better Living Through Plastic Explosives

Here at St. Albert Public Library our patrons created a local version of the shortlist by placing holds on the longlist titles - an Alt-Giller shortlist. Our list would drop Bezmozgis, Edugyan and Gartner in favour of Endicott, Vanderhaeghe and Johnston:

1	Michael Ondaatje	Cat's Table
2	Marina Endicott	The Little Shadows
3	Guy Vanderhaeghe	A Good Man
4	Wayne Johnston	A World Elsewhere
5	Patrick deWitt	The Sisters Brothers
6	Lynn Coady	The Antagonist

Locally, Michael Ondaatje's Cat's Table is by far the most popular, but Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows and Guy Vanderhaeghe's A Good Man aren't far behind. We are very big Marina Endicott fans hereabouts, so we were disappointed not to see The Little Shadows on the shortlist. But we shout huzzah for another local hero, Lynn Coady, making it to the shortlist with The Antagonist. Look for an appearance by both Marina and Lynn at the Library, probably early in the new year. [Photo above is Marina (L) and Lynn (R) at the launch of The Antagonist in Edmonton in September].