Scotiabank Giller Prize selects jury, includes ‘Book of Negroes’ author

TORONTO – “The Book of Negroes” author Lawrence Hill has been selected to chair this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The homegrown literary award announced two other Canadians will be on its five-member jury — New Republic senior editor Jeet Heer, and former Giller finalist Kathleen Winter, who was nominated for “Annabel” — as part of the lineup.

British author Samantha Harvey, who was previously nominated for the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize, and Alan Warner, the Scottish writer of eight novels including “The Stars in the Bright Sky,” round out the list.

Together the jury will pick this year’s winner of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English.

The long list of Giller contenders will be revealed on Sept. 6, while the short list will be unveiled on Sept. 26.

An awards gala will be held at Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton on Nov. 8.

The Giller Prize, founded in 1994, is named after the late literary journalist Doris Giller. The winning author receives $100,000 while the other finalists will get $10,000.

Last year, the Giller Prize expanded its jury from three to five members for the first time in its history. Organizers said they hoped the move would bring lively debate to the deliberations.

Hill’s “Book of Negroes” was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2007.