A jubilant Will Ferguson wins Giller prize, raises toast to written word

TORONTO – A kilt-wearing Calgary humorist Will Ferguson urged attendees at the star-studded Scotiabank Giller bash to raise a glass in honour of his craft Tuesday night as he captured the $50,000 prize for his novel “419.”

“I’d like to raise a toast to the written word,” the bearded Ferguson said as he accepted the award, pulling a flask out of the sporran attached to his Highland tartan outfit.

“So. Thanks. Ladies and gentlemen: To the written word. And finally, to answer the question you’re all wondering — yes I have something on underneath!”

Ferguson, 48, is widely revered for such comedy chops, having won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for humour writing three times.

But his Giller-winning novel (a Viking Canada publication) takes on a serious tone as it focuses on an email scam in Nigeria, where a woman is searching for the culprits behind her father’s death.

The mystery follows his previous historical novel, “Spanish Fly,” about con artists in the 1930s.

Writing two books about scammers has made Ferguson “very, very paranoid,” he admitted.

“The more you write about cons, you start to see them everywhere,” he said after nabbing the Giller. “It’s like when your wife’s pregnant and you see pregnant women everywhere, it’s the same idea.”

Clearly, penning more serious work hasn’t caused Ferguson to lose his satiric edge, which he attributes to his Irish mother.

Earlier in the night, when asked about the lavish praise the Giller judging panel has heaped on “419,” he quipped: “I think that means they suspect I have incriminating photographs of (them), which I don’t.”

In its citation of “419,” this year’s jury members — Roddy Doyle of Ireland, Gary Shteyngart of New York, and Toronto-based Anna Porter — said: “It is tempting to put ‘419’ in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and its genius.”

Ferguson, who is well known for his travel books, said the Giller honour gives him some reassurance as he delves more into literary fiction.

That doesn’t mean he’s done with his travel writing, though: his next book will be about Rwanda, said the native of Fort Vermilion, Alta., whose dream when he started writing was to work for “Lonely Planet.”

And what will he do with the Giller prize money?

“We’ll travel for sure, at some point,” said Ferguson, who studied screenwriting and film production at York University and has also lived in Ecuador and Japan.

Ferguson’s book was up against titles by Montreal authors Nancy Richler, Alix Ohlin and Kim Thuy. Rounding out the Giller short list was Russell Wangersky of St. John’s, N.L.

With a short list chock-full of relatively unknown authors, this year’s Giller was said to be a wide open race. Some of the nominees sounded downright dazed to be included at the glitzy awards show.

Wangersky, who attended the black-tie bash with his editor-wife Leslie Vryenhoek, found the experience “very, very strange.”

“It’s a long way from working in your kitchen and making sure the cat’s water dish is full, which is more like what writers deal with,” said the journalist, nominated for his short story collection “Whirl Away” (Thomas Allen Publishers).

“(These aren’t) my clothes — it’s my shoes and my bow tie and the rest of it is someone else’s stuff. It’s very, very different.”

Ohlin’s “Inside” (House of Anansi Press) — about a group of characters trying to help each other — is also up for the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust of Canada fiction prize. The author — who was raised in Montreal and is now a professor of creative writing at Lafayette College in Easton, Penn. — said the nominations have helped readers find her work.

“I’m not someone that anyone had ever heard very much about me in Canada up until now, so the idea that anyone is talking about the books at all, or reading them or emailing me about it, it’s very new and it feels very wonderful.”

Hosted for the second year in a row by CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi, the show — broadcast from the Ritz-Carlton — featured presentations from actress Kim Cattrall, gold medallist Rosie MacLennan and actor Allan Hawco.

The menu included asparagus cremini mushroom salad, filet mignon with foie gras and vegetables, and a double-chocolate mille-feuille.

Established in 1994 by businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller, the prize celebrates the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English. Finalists receive $5,000.

This year’s jury read 142 works of fiction submitted by 51 publishing houses from across Canada.

Richler was nominated for the mother-daughter post-war saga “The Imposter Bride” (Harper Collins Canada), and Thuy for the immigrant novel “Ru” (Random House of Canada), translated by Sheila Fischman from the original French version that won a 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today