The winners of the 1997 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced on November 18 by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts. Each winner received a cheque for $10,000.
English
Fiction
Jane Urquhart, The Underpainter- Sandra Birdsell, The Two-Headed Calf
- Matt Cohen, Last Seen
- Elizabeth Hay, Small Change
- Eric McCormack, First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women
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Poetry
- Dionne Brand, Land to Light On
- Marilyn Bowering, Autobiography
- Patrick Friesen, A Broken Bowl
- Carole Glasser Langille, In Cannon Cave
- Don McKay, Apparatus
Drama
- Ian Ross, FareWel
- Maureen Hunter, Atlantis
- Lee MacDougall, High Life
- Jason Sherman, Reading Hebron
- Judith Thompson, Sled
Non-fiction
- Rachel Manley, Drumblair – Memories of a Jamaican Childhood
- Wade Davis, One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest
- Catherine Dunphy, Morgentaler: A Difficult Hero
- Terry Glavin, This Ragged Place – Travels Across the Landscape
- Blair Stonechild and Bill Waiser, Loyal till Death – Indians and the North-West Rebellion
Children's Literature – Text
- Kit Pearson, Awake and Dreaming
- Cheryl Foggo, One Thing That's True
- James Heneghan, Wish Me Luck
- Teddy Jam, The Fishing Summer
- Barbara Nichol, Dippers
Children's Literature – Illustrations
- Barbara Reid, The Party
- Blair Drawson, Flying Dimitri
- Marie-Louise Gay, Rumpelstiltskin
- Robin Muller, The Angel Tree
- Ludmila Zeman, The First Red Maple Leaf
Translation – French to English
- Howard Scott, The Euguelion
- Jane Brierley, Canadians of Old
- Patricia Claxton, Baroque at Dawn
- David Homel, A Drifting Year
- Nancy Huston, The Goldberg Variations
French
Fiction
- Aude, Cet imperceptible mouvement
- Bernard Assiniwi, La Saga des Béothuks
- Lise Bissonnette, Quittes et Doubles – Scènes de réciprocité
- Pierre Morency, La Vie entière – Histoires naturelles du Nouveau Monde
- Pierre Ouellet, Légende dorée
Poetry
- Pierre Nepveu, Romans-fleuves
- Nicole Brossard, Vertige de l'avant-scène
- Serge Legagneur, Poèmes choisis, 1961–1997
- Paul Chanel Malenfant, Fleuves
- Hélène Monette, Plaisirs et Paysages kitsch
Drama
- Yvan Bienvenue, Dits et Inédits
- Jasmine Dubé, La Bonne Femme
- Marie-Line Laplante, Une tache sur la lune
- Robert Marinier, L'Insomnie
- Larry Tremblay, Ogre – Cornemuse
Non-Fiction
- Roland Viau, Enfants du néant et mangeurs d'âmes – Guerre, culture et société en Iroquoisie ancienne
- Fernand Dumont, Une foi partagée
- Yolande Geadah, Femmes voilées, intégrismes démasqués
- Alain Bernard Marchand, Tintin au pays de la ferveur
- François Ricard, Gabrielle Roy – Une vie
Children's Literature – Text
- Michel Noël, Pien
- Dominique Demers, Maïna, tomes 1 et 2
- Agathe Génois, Sarah, je suis là!
- Jacques Godbout, Une leçon de chasse
- Maryse Pelletier, Une vie en éclats
Children's Literature – Illustrations
- Stéphane Poulin, Poil de serpent, dent d'araignée
- Leanne Franson, L'Ourson qui voulait une Juliette
- Stéphane Jorisch, Casse-Noisette
- Gilles Tibo, Simon et le petit cirque
Translation – English to French
- Marie José Thériault, Arracher les montagnes
- François Barcelo, La Face cachée des pierres
- Nicole Côté, Verre de tempête
- Pierrot Lambert, L'Insight: Étude de la compréhension humaine