Scotiabank Giller Prize winning book gathers unexpected attention

Last Tuesday, Canada’s most prestigious literary award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was presented to Johanna Skibsrud for her novel The Sentimentalists. Since then, her book has received quite a lot of attention - not related to the content.

Instead, there has been a lot of focus on both the readers’ inability to get their hands on the book and the controversy over the relationship between one of the Scotiabank Giller Prize jurors and an agent who has international rights over the book. The Canadian literary scene was a buzz when the shortlist was revealed; only one of the five books was published by a major publishing house - something not seen in previous years. The Sentimentalists is published by Gaspereau Press, a small publisher out of Nova Scotia. While many were excited about the winner being from a small press, it has also become a great problem; they can't get enough books out there fast enough to meet the demand. Readers have been trying to get their hands on a copy of Skibrud's book since the longlist and shortlist were announced, but are finding bookstores don't have any copies to sell. Gaspereau’s co-publishers Gary Dunfield and Andrew Steeves work on the principle that they make good quality, aesthetically appealing books copied by hand - not books made to be mass produced. As such, they can produce about 1000 copies a week and they say they will continue to make that many, despite being offered by other publishing houses to help print more. Gaspereau is currently working on a solution and plan to reveal this upcoming week just how they plan on getting the book out there to readers. “We just can’t make them as fast as the world expects…I believe pretty firmly that readers will wait for a good book,” Steeves told the National Post. Readers can’t seem to wait; less than 24 hours after the Giller Prize was awarded, Amazon.ca declared The Sentimentalists to be #1. It’s estimated that about 20,000 copies will be required to meet demand. Before the Giller longlist was released in September, 400 copies of Skibsrud’s book were sold; the book came out in October 2009. Those who have a Kobo eReader from Chapters Indigo can purchase the book without any problem. Another controversy connected to this year’s winning book is the conflict involving juror Ali Smith, a British writer, who spoke to an agent and friend, Tracy Bohan, about Skibsrud’s book before the longlist and shortlist were revealed. Bohan landed a deal, just days before the longlist went out, to distribute Skibsrud’s book internationally. She has since sold the book to her boyfriend, Jason Arthur director of Random House UK imprint William Heinemann. According to Steeves, of Gaspereau Press, he received an email from Johanna Skibsrud, “She told me that Tracy Bohan had contacted her and that an author, Ali Smith, had recommended that Tracy read The Sentimentalists.” Before the longlist was revealed in September, “Tracy was very interested in making a deal with me that morning.” After the longlist was revealed, Steeves admitted, “it looked a little funny to me.” Juror Ali Smith stands firm and states she didn’t do anything wrong and hasn’t talked to anyone about the 98 books she read this past summer for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In an email written to the National Post, Smith says, “Absolutely not. It is not true. Nobody knew anything about any list from me.” Though CTV News is reporting that Smith spoke to Elana Rabinovitch, director of the Giller Prize, and admitted to her that she did talk to Tracey Bohan and casually mentioned she had been reading Skibsrud's book. Elana Rabinovitch, has been forward about the issue, but defended the juror, stating that while Smith’s actions were ‘inappropriate’ they were not ‘nefarious.’ “It’s not so much a conflict as it is poor judgment,” she said in the Globe and Mail. On Friday, fellow juror and CBC broadcaster, Michael Enright talked to the National Post about the protocols of being a Giller juror. “It’s common sense that you don’t talk about what you’re doing,” He said. “I was too busy reading to talk, quite frankly. But I think there was an implicit understanding, although it was never stated, that what the jury did they didn’t talk about. That was just simple.” When the National Post asked him if he talked to anyone about the books being considered, he said, “Oh Christ no.” While jurors are asked not to discuss the books before the gala award ceremony, there is no contract or documents to be signed assuring confidentiality. Elana Rabinovitch believes this is something that “we may have to drive home a little more with jurors,” but says they won't change the process for jurors. The Giller Prize was started by Jack Rabinovitch in 1994 in honour of his late wife Doris Giller, a former literary editor for the Toronto Star. In 2005 the Giller Prize teamed up with Scotiabank to become the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Currently, the winner receives $50,000 and the other finalists receive $5000. A substantial increase in book sales is also expected. The other finalists include David Bergen for his novel The Matter with Morris , Kathleen Winter’s Annabel, Sarah Selecky’s short story collection This Cake is for the Party and Alexander MacLeod’s book of short stories Light Lifting. Updated: Gaspereau Press has sold rights for a paperback edition to publisher Douglas & McIntyre. They will ship out the new editions this week. The first 30,000 will be shipped from November 19th.