Novelist Joseph Boyden wins Scotiabank Giller Prize

Joseph Boyden  had a big smile on his face tonight after winning one of Canada's most prestigious literary prizes.

Boyden, who is of  Metis, Scottish, and Irish  descent, is this year's Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, which includes $50,000. He won for his  novel Through Black Spruce, which was reviewed in the Georgia Straight early this month.  

Writer Alex Varty described it as a sequel of sorts to Boyden's acclaimed first novel, Three Day Road.  

"The new book returns us to the desolate forests that surround James Bay, and its protagonists are the children and grandchildren of the earlier book’s heroes," Varty writes in his review.  "As before, Boyden is lyrical and assured in this northern setting; Will Bird’s flight to a remote, bear-haunted island, following his shooting of Cree crime boss and drug dealer Marius Netmaker, is a Robinson Crusoe idyll that turns into an epic tale of survival."

Three Day Road, was also reviewed in the Straight and ended up being nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award.

Jack Rabinovitch created the Giller Prize in 1994 to honour his wife Doris Giller, who was a reporter and editor before she succumbed to cancer in 1993.