CBC has announced that Rick Mercer will host the 2014 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE gala on Monday, November 10, 2014. Mercer will join presenters Kim Coates, Jessica Par and Naomi Klein on stage to celebrate the finest works in Canadian fiction for the year.

The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis

Tell by Frances Itani

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels

The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao by Padma Viswanathan

The SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE gala will be broadcast at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. AT /10:30 NT) on CBC Television from the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Toronto. It will also be live-streamed on CBC Books with a concurrent live chat, enabling Canadians across the country to be part of the Giller experience. With the finalists being celebrated and an author awarded the prize that night, the presenters will join the authors on stage to celebrate the year’s biggest achievements in Canadian arts and letters. An appearance on Q the following morning will be the first national broadcast feature interview for this year’s winner.

The six authors on this year’s shortlist were selected by a distinguished jury made up of some of the finest writers in North America and the UK: Canadian author Shauna Singh Baldwin, British novelist Justin Cartwright and American writer Francine Prose.

Luminaries of Canada’s literary scene will walk the red carpet as they arrive for the gala. Reporters, photographers and social media bloggers wishing to cover the glitz and glamour of the red carpet arrivals are asked to arrive by 5:00 p.m. Check-in will be on the second floor of the Ritz-Carlton at the media registration desk.

Following the red carpet, reporters are welcome to move to the media room to watch a live feed of the awards gala. There will be a photo opportunity of the winner announcement during the live show as well.

Interviews with the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author will follow in the media room.

Media wishing to attend are required to RSVP by Friday, November 7 to Dayna Shiskos at dayna.shiskos@cbc.ca

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The Scotiabank Giller Prize strives to highlight the very best in Canadian fiction year after year. Beginning in 2014, the prize will award $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller and was founded in 1994 by her husband, Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch.

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

A space for us all is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy to modernize the public broadcaster and ensure that it continues to fulfill its mandate for Canadians and for future generations. Through to 2020, it will increase its investment in prime time television programming, and continue to create radio programs of the highest quality, while promoting the development of digital and mobile platforms and content.

Home to Canada Reads, Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel, The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, Canada Writes and the CBC Literary Prizes, CBC Books brings together literary enthusiasts to find books they want to read and to connect with other Canadians who love to read and write. For book news, writing challenges, reading lists, book recommendations and more, visit www.cbcbooks.ca.

Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada’s most international bank. Through Bright Future, our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level across six pillars: health, education, social services, arts and culture, environment and sports. Recognized as a leader for charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has contributed on average some $50 million annually over the last five years to community causes around the world.

Dayna Shiskos, publicist, CBC

Dayna.Shiskos@cbc.ca

(o) (416) 205-7973

(c) 647-226-5796