Ian Williams is the winner of the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize, chosen from a field of six finalists who represented the geographic breadth of the country. The announcement was made at a gala ceremony at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel on Monday night, hosted by singer — and bestselling author — Jann Arden.“You have no idea how special this is for me,” Williams said through tears in his acceptance speech for his book “Reproduction.” “Margaret Atwood, who is sitting right over there, was the first book I bought with my own money. I bought that because I had good public school teachers.The Aria Ballroom shimmered with all the sequins and sparkles the publishing, business, political and cultural elite could muster to celebrate the 26th annual Giller Prize. But the room erupted when Williams was presented with a cheque for $100,000, along with a statue commemorating the win.“Reproduction” is set in Brampton and explores the nature of family — both blood relatives and chosen family. The writing, as reviewers expect from Williams, is beautiful — he’s written many volumes of poetry, and been shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry prize in 2013. This was his debut novel, proving he’s an equal master in both forms.“I’m feeling like all of my past lives are here in this moment,” Williams said afterwards. “When I was a six-year-old boy in Trinidad and a nine year old, a university student — all of these lives are meeting in this moment.”The other five finalists were: Toronto’s David Bezmozgis, who was nominated for his short-story collection “Immigrant City” (HarperCollins); Newfoundland’s Megan Gail Coles, nominated for her novel “Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club” (House of Anansi); Michael Crummey, of Newfoundland, for his novel “The Innocents (Doubleday Canada); Montreal and Victoria native Alix Ohlin f ...
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