2005 Giller Prize Winner Announced
Nov. 9, 2005: The Time in Between, a novel inspired by a 1996 family trip to Vietnam, earned Winnipeg writer David Bergen his first Scotiabank Giller Prize on Tuesday night in Toronto, where he collected a $40,000 cheque and, along with his publisher, McClelland & Stewart, looked forward to the boost in sales and recognition that typically accompanies the honour.
Speaking to a group of reporters after the ceremony, Bergen explained what the victory meant to him. ‘Obviously, it means more sales, it means that it’s noticed, it’s recognized. And a writer ultimately wants that, but that’s not why you write,” he said. ‘I write because I have to and I love it.”
For her part, an ‘over-the-moon” Seligman said that M&S sales staff was ordering another reprint of The Time in Between later Tuesday night, on top of the one that had just arrived from the printers earlier this week. Seligman thinks the Giller victory will also boost Bergen’s profile outside Canada. ‘I think it’s also going to have a huge effect on the U.S. publication, which is just about to happen and also there are a number of international deals that are in the works that I think this will tip over the edge,” she said. Random House U.S. is slated to publish the book, which features an American man who fought in the Vietnam War as the main character, on Dec. 6.
As part of the newly expanded purse, each of the four runners-up – Joan Barfoot for Luck (Knopf Canada), Lisa Moore for Alligator (House of Anansi Press), Edeet Ravel for A Wall of Light (Random House Canada), and Camilla Gibb for Sweetness in the Belly (Doubleday Canada) – went home with $2,500.
Author Warren Cariou, who sat on the jury with Elizabeth Hay and former Giller winner Richard B. Wright, said Tuesday morning’s meeting to choose the winner took about an hour and a half. ‘There’s always a lot of give and take in the initial discussion, but we’re all really happy with the choice.” Between the announcement of the shortlist and Tuesday, Cariou said he re-read each novel, which had an impact on his decision-making. ‘Some books reward re-reading more than others, but I think with some books you really start to get a deeper sense of what the author is doing,” he said. ‘In some of the books, you really got more [the second time through] and you had the sense that these are the books that are going to last.”