Jurors surprise with Giller shortlist
Vanessa Farquharson, National Post

The judges for the 15th annual Giller Prize for Canadian fiction might just be more renowned than the authors who made the shortlist on Tuesday.
Gasps of surprise were heard all-round as Margaret Atwood, a past Giller winner and three-time jury member, stood next to former Ontario premier Bob Rae and revealed the names of the five nominees at a morning press conference.

Most of the gasps came when Marina Endicott, a creative writing teacher at the University of Alberta, was called out for her novel Good to a Fault - not only is she a new writer, she's also represented by first-time publisher Freehand Books, which launched last year in Calgary.
Then came Toronto authors Mary Swan for her first novel The Boys in the Trees (Henry Holt/HB Fenn) and high school teacher Anthony De Sa with Barnacle Love (Doubleday), a debut collection of short stories.

"This is what the Giller can do," said Atwood, after the announcement. "This is what prizes in general can do. They can put people into the spotlight who never would have been there, and it's terrific when it happens."

Read the full story at The National Post online.