Governor General's Award for English-language drama

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The

Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama
was divided.

Because the award is presented for plays published in print, a play's eligibility for the award can sometimes be several years later than its eligibility for awards, such as the

Titles which compile several works by the playwright into a single volume may also be nominated for or win the award.

Winners and nominees

1980s

Governor General's Award for English-language drama honorees, 1980-1989
Year Author Title Ref.
1981 Sharon Pollock Blood Relations [2]
Charles Tidler Straight Ahead and Blind Dancers [3]
George F. Walker Theatre of the Film Noir
1982
John Gray
Billy Bishop Goes to War [4]
Lawrence Jeffery Clay [5]
Betty Lambert Jennie's Story
1983 Anne Chislett Quiet in the Land [6]
No advance shortlist was released this year. [7]
1984 Judith Thompson White Biting Dog [8]
James Reaney The Canadian Brothers or The Prophecy Fulfilled [9]
George Ryga A Letter to My Son
1985 George F. Walker Criminals in Love [10]
David French Salt-Water Moon [11]
Margaret Hollingsworth War Babies
Ken Mitchell Gone the Burning Sun
1986 Sharon Pollock Doc [12]
Frank Moher Odd Jobs [13]
Allan Stratton Papers
1987 John Krizanc Prague [14]
Wendy Lill The Occupation of Heather Rose [15]
Michael D.C. McKinlay Walt and Roy
Sharon Pollock Whiskey Six Cadenza
1988 George F. Walker Nothing Sacred [16]
Dennis Foon Skin [17]
Tomson Highway The Rez Sisters
Maureen Hunter Footprints on the Moon
1989 Judith Thompson The Other Side of the Dark [18]
Tomson Highway Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing [19]
John Krizanc Tamara

1990s

Governor General's Award for English-language drama honorees, 1990-1999
Year Author Title Ref.
1990 Ann-Marie MacDonald Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) [20]
Audrey Butler
Black Friday? [21]
John Mighton Scientific Americans
George F. Walker Love and Anger
1991 Joan MacLeod Amigo's Blue Guitar [22]
Sally Clark The Trial of Judith K. [23]
Don Druick Where Is Kabuki?
Linda Griffiths The Darling Family
Daniel David Moses Coyote City
1992 John Mighton Possible Worlds and A Short History of Night [24]
Daniel Brooks, Guillermo Verdecchia The Noam Chomsky Lectures [25]
Dave Carley Writing With Our Feet
Judith Thompson Lion in the Streets
Dianne Warren Serpent in the Night Sky
1993 Guillermo Verdecchia Fronteras Americanas [26]
Daniel MacIvor House Humans [27]
Raymond Storey The Saints and Apostles
David Young Glenn
1994 Morris Panych The Ends of the Earth [28]
Joanna McClelland Glass
If We Are Women [29]
Wendy Lill All Fall Down
Bryden MacDonald Whale Riding Weather
1995 Jason Sherman Three in the Back, Two in the Head [30]
Brad Fraser
Poor Super Man
[31]
Deborah Kimmett Miracle Mother
Joan MacLeod The Hope Slide/Little Sister
Eugene Stickland Some Assembly Required
1996 Colleen Wagner The Monument [32]
Wendy Lill The Glace Bay Miners' Museum [33]
John Mighton The Little Years
Michael O'Brien Mad Boy Chronicle
Betty Quan Mother Tongue
1997 Ian Ross fareWel [34]
Maureen Hunter Atlantis [35]
Lee MacDougall High Life
Jason Sherman Reading Hebron
Judith Thompson Sled
1998 Djanet Sears Harlem Duet [36]
Bruce McManus Selkirk Avenue [37]
Richard Sanger Not Spain
Sandra Shamas Sandra Shamas: A Trilogy of Performances
David Young Inexpressible Island
1999 Michael Healey The Drawer Boy [38]
Wendy Lill Corker [39]
Daniel MacIvor Marion Bridge
Colleen Murphy Beating Heart Cadaver
Theresa Tova Still the Night

2000s

Governor General's Award for English-language drama honorees, 2000-2009
Year Author Title Ref.
2000 Timothy Findley Elizabeth Rex [40]
George Boyd Consecrated Ground [41]
Linda Griffiths Alien Creature
Daniel MacIvor, Daniel Brooks Monster
Jason Sherman It's All True
2001 Kent Stetson The Harps of God [42]
Mark Brownell Monsieur d'Eon [43]
Clem Martini A Three Martini Lunch
Michael Redhill Building Jerusalem
Jason Sherman An Acre of Time
2002 Kevin Kerr Unity (1918) [44]
Claudia Dey The Gwendolyn Poems [45]
Lorena Gale Je me souviens
Michael MacLennan The Shooting Stage
2003 Vern Thiessen Einstein's Gift [46]
Marie Clements Burning Vision [47]
Brian Drader Prok
Sunil Kuruvilla Rice Boy
Michael MacLennan Last Romantics
2004 Morris Panych Girl in the Goldfish Bowl [48]
Robert Chafe Butler's Marsh and Tempting Providence [49]
Michael Healey Rune Arlidge
Karen Hines The Pochsy Plays
Mieko Ouchi The Red Priest (Eight Ways to Say Goodbye)
2005 John Mighton Half Life [50]
Marjorie Chan China Doll [51]
Don Druick Through the Eyes
Daniel MacIvor Cul-de-sac
Richard Sanger Two Words for Snow
2006 Daniel MacIvor I Still Love You [52]
Morwyn Brebner The Optimists [53]
Lisa Codrington Cast Iron
Jason Sherman Adapt or Die: Plays New and Used
Drew Hayden Taylor In a World Created by a Drunken God
2007 Colleen Murphy The December Man [54]
Salvatore Antonio In Gabriel's Kitchen [55]
Anosh Irani The Bombay Plays: The Matka King and Bombay Black
Rosa Labordé Léo
Morris Panych What Lies Before Us
2008 Catherine Banks Bone Cage [56]
Ronnie Burkett 10 Days on Earth [57]
Paul Ciufo Reverend Jonah
Marie Clements Copper Thunderbird
Judith Thompson Palace of the End
2009 Kevin Loring Where the Blood Mixes [58]
Beverley Cooper Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott [59]
Joan MacLeod Another Home Invasion
Hannah Moscovitch East of Berlin
Michael Nathanson Talk

2010s

Governor General's Award for English-language drama honorees, 2010-2019
Year Author Title Ref.
2010 Robert Chafe Afterimage [60]
Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman Scratch [61]
Michael Healey Courageous
Judith Thompson Such Creatures
David Yee lady in the red dress
2011 Erin Shields If We Were Birds [62]
Brendan Gall Minor Complications: Two Plays [63]
Jonathan Garfinkel House of Many Tongues
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard Gas Girls
Vern Thiessen Lenin’s Embalmers
2012 Catherine Banks It Is Solved by Walking [64]
Trina Davies The Romeo Initiative [65]
Karen Hines Drama: Pilot Episode
Cathy Ostlere, Dennis Garnhum
Lost: A Memoir
Anusree Roy Brothel #9
2013 Nicolas Billon Fault Lines: Three Plays [66]
Meg Braem Blood: A Scientific Romance [67]
Kate Hewlett The Swearing Jar
Lawrence Jeffery Frenchtown
Joseph Jomo Pierre Shakespeare's Nigga
2014 Jordan Tannahill Age of Minority: Three Solo Plays [68]
Rick Chafe The Secret Mask [69]
Sean Dixon A God in Need of Help
Janet Munsil That Elusive Spark
2015 David Yee carried away on the crest of a wave [70]
Beth Graham The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble [71]
Tara Grammy, Tom Arthur Davis Mahmoud
Bryden MacDonald Odd Ducks
Marcus Youssef, James Long Winners and Losers
2016 Colleen Murphy Pig Girl [72]
Brad Fraser Kill Me Now [73]
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard A Man A Fish
Jordan Tannahill Concord Floral
Mary Vingoe Refuge
2017 Hiro Kanagawa Indian Arm [74]
Robert Chafe The Colony of Unrequited Dreams [75]
Anna Chatterton Within the Glass
Michael Healey 1979
Kate Hennig The Virgin Trial
2018 Jordan Tannahill Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom [76]
Keith Barker This Is How We Got Here [77]
Anna Chatterton, Evalyn Parry, Karin Randoja Gertrude and Alice
Anosh Irani The Men in White
Erin Shields Paradise Lost
2019 Amanda Parris Other Side of the Game [78]
Kevin Loring Thanks for Giving [79]
Hannah Moscovitch What a Young Wife Ought to Know
Sean Harris Oliver The Fighting Season
Tetsuro Shigematsu 1 Hour Photo

2020s

Year Author Title Ref.
2020 Kim Senklip Harvey Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story [80]
Yolanda Bonnell bug [81]
Christopher Cook Quick Bright Things
Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman Guarded Girls
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard Sound of the Beast
2021 Hannah Moscovitch Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes [82]
Falen Johnson Two Indians [83]
Jivesh Parasram Take d Milk, Nah?
Paul David Power Crippled
Christine Quintana Selfie
2022 Dorothy Dittrich The Piano Teacher: A Healing Key [84]
Daniel Arnold, Darrell Dennis, Medina Hahn Inheritance: a pick-the-path experience [85]
Robert Chafe Everybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down
Marjorie Chan Lady Sunrise
Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho) Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方
2023 Cliff Cardinal As You Like It, A Radical Retelling [86]
Darla Contois The War Being Waged [87]
Hiro Kanagawa Forgiveness
Suvendrini Lena The Enchanted Loom
Jordan Tannahill Is My Microphone On?

Multiple winners and nominees

2 Wins

  • Catherine Banks
  • John Mighton
  • Colleen Murphy
  • Morris Panych
  • Sharon Pollock
  • Jordan Tannahill
  • Judith Thompson
  • George F. Walker

6 Nominations

  • Judith Thompson (2 wins)

5 Nominations

  • Daniel MacIvor (1 win)
  • Jason Sherman (1 win)

4 Nominations

  • Robert Chafe (1 win)
  • Wendy Lill
  • Michael Healey (1 win)
  • John Mighton (2 wins)
  • Jordan Tannahill (2 wins)
  • George F. Walker (2 wins)

3 Nominations

  • Joan MacLeod (1 win)
  • Hannah Moscovitch (1 win)
  • Colleen Murphy (2 wins)
  • Morris Panych (2 wins)
  • Sharon Pollock (2 wins)
  • Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

2 Nominations

  • Catherine Banks (2 wins)
  • Daniel Brooks (both with cowriters)
  • Marjorie Chan
  • Anna Chatterton (consecutive, 1 with cowriters)
  • Marie Clements
  • Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman
  • Don Druick
  • Brad Fraser
  • Linda Griffiths
  • Tomson Highway (consecutive)
  • Karen Hines
  • Maureen Hunter
  • Anosh Irani
  • Lawrence Jeffrey
  • Hiro Kanagawa (1 win)
  • John Krizanc (1 win)
  • Kevin Loring (1 win)
  • Bryden MacDonald
  • Michael MacLennon (consecutive)
  • Richard Sanger
  • Erin Shields (1 win)
  • Vern Thiessen (1 win)
  • Guillermo Verdecchia (consecutive, 1 win)
  • David Yee (1 win)
  • David Young

Drew Hayden Taylor and Anosh Irani have also both been nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction. James Reaney won the award three times before Poetry and Drama were split in 1981 into separate categories.

References

  1. ^ "Plays at the G-Gs: better late than never". The Globe and Mail, October 22, 2005.
  2. ^ "Governor General's literary awards announced". Ottawa Citizen, May 18, 1982.
  3. ^ Brian Brennan, "Sharon Pollock delighted; David Cassidy plays West". Calgary Herald, May 18, 1982.
  4. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
    , July 16, 1983.
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  6. ^ "CanLit fiction's leading award goes to the Dog". The Globe and Mail, June 21, 1984.
  7. ^ "Governor-General's Awards 22 authors named finalists". The Globe and Mail, May 19, 1984.
  8. Kingston Whig-Standard
    , June 7, 1985.
  9. ^ James Adams, "Local writers nominated for award". Edmonton Journal, May 16, 1985.
  10. ^ "Margaret Atwood lifts second Governor General's award". Edmonton Journal, June 4, 1986.
  11. ^ "Literary prize nominees named". Red Deer Advocate, May 13, 1986.
  12. ^ Lisa Rochon, "Yvon Rivard honored for French-language fiction: Munro wins top literary prize". The Globe and Mail, May 28, 1987.
  13. ^ "Awards finalists announced". The Globe and Mail, May 1, 1987.
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