RUNAWAY JURY: GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDS, POETRY IN ENGLISH, 2004

Intro:

For several years now I've been complaining about the secret deliberations of literary juries. What bothers me is the lack of transparency. There are occasional leaks about a jury's unanimity, or difficulty, in reaching a decision, but little light is shed on the important question of just how a particular book is chosen. The problem is compounded by the empty praise thrown at the winner - praise that in 9 out of 10 cases could be applied to each of the other nominees just as easily.

The simple announcement of a winner leaves out the most interesting part. What aesthetic factors were taken into consideration? What were the criteria? What combination of personality, prejudice, and politics went into the decision? Did the judges even read all of the short-listed works? What sort of compromises were necessary, and on whose part, to come up with a winner?

With The Runaway Jury I want to go behind-the-scenes to show how a literary jury works. The jurors will have to pick a winner from the short list for an established literary prize. Our first Runaway Jury takes the short list for the 2004 Governor General's Award for Poetry in English. The nominated titles are: Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida; Tim Bowling, The Memory Orchard; David Manicom, The Burning Eaves; John Terpstra, Disarmament; and Jan Zwicky, Robinson's Crossing. 

The three jurors are Alex Good, Steven Laird, and Zach Wells.

NEXT: First up, Roo Borson . . .

General Index:

First up, Roo Borson . . .

What about Tim Bowling?

Where's David Manicom?

On to John Terpstra . . .

Finally, Jan Zwicky

The Jury Deliberates