And the Real Giller winner is…

Here’s the Real Jury’s citation for Will Ferguson’s 419:

“Will Ferguson’s 419 points in the direction of something entirely new: the Global Novel. It is a novel emotionally and physically at home in the poverty of Lagos and in the day-to-day of North America. It tells us the ways in which we are now bound together and reminds us of the things that will always keep us apart. It brings us the news of the world far beyond the sad, hungry faces we see on CNN and CBC and far beyond the spreadsheets of our pension plans. Ferguson is a true travel writer, his eye attuned to the last horrible detail. He is also a master at dialogue and suspense. It is tempting to put 419 in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and its genius.”

For Shadow Jury reviews, Kimbofo’s is here, Trevor’s here and KfC’s here.

For the second year in a row, the Real Jury endorsed the second choice of the Shadow Jury. Okay, for the second year in a row, Shadow Juror Kimbofo’s first choice was the same as the Real Jury choice — and her fellow Shadow Jurors talked her into accepting her second choice. As I said earlier, next year we may have to give her 200 points to spread around in the first vote.

Ferguson is a fellow Calgarian — the first to win the Giller. Full congratulations to him as a deserving winner.

For those who didn’t see the broadcast, the CBC did quite a good job — particularly on introducing and interviewing the authors (some of the non-book stuff was less impressive). If you have been following the Giller it might be worth checking their site for a web version.

And that ends the 2012 Giller. See you again in 2013.