Anne Michaels Wins $100K Giller Prize for ‘Held’: A Literary Triumph Explored

Anne Michaels won the 2024 Giller Prize for her novel Held. The prize amounts to $100,000, making it the largest award in Canadian literature.

Michaels is a Toronto-based poet and author. She has received several major awards, including the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Before this win, she was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 1996 and 2009.

In her acceptance speech, Michaels expressed that her writing serves as a witness against war and indifference. She emphasized the importance of literature in connecting writers and readers, stating, “Everything I write is against futility.”

Held is a historical novel that begins on a World War I battlefield in 1917. It explores themes of love and history across generations, highlighting the impact of war on personal lives. Michaels described the novel as expressing how love influences lives beyond a single lifetime.

The five finalists for the 2024 Giller Prize include Éric Chacour for What I Know About You, Anne Fleming for Curiosities, Conor Kerr for Prairie Edge, and Deepa Rajagopalan for Peacocks of Instagram. Each finalist receives $10,000.

About 100 books were submitted for the prize, narrowed down to a longlist of 12 before arriving at the five shortlisted books. The jury was chaired by author Noah Richler and included notable figures from various fields.

The ceremony took place in Toronto and featured hosts from the literary community. This year’s event also faced protests from authors who withdrew their works due to Scotiabank’s investment in an Israeli defense contractor.

Michaels’ Held was also shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. The jury praised it as a novel that weaves memories and desires while exploring mortality and resilience. The Giller Prize continues to celebrate Canadian fiction despite ongoing controversies surrounding its sponsorship.