Kenayan born writer wins Canadian prize

M.G. Vassanji, Kenyan-born author, has won Canada's most lucrative and prestigious literary prize, the Giller Prize, at the beginning of November. His latest book The In-Between World of Vikram Lall was named the year's best English-language novel by the Giller jury.

"It feels like a mistake," he said when he took to the stage to receive the $25,000 prize. It is the second time he has won this prize, the first time being in 1994. "It felt like a mistake the first time and so, this time, obviously it's a mistake. I'll accept it in any case. The first prize was a bit harder and the second prize feels like a bonus. It is unbelievable. I may wake up tomorrow and find that it wasn't the case and it wouldn't bother me at all ... writing is about writing, not about prizes."

In their citation, jurists David Staines, Ruby Wiebe and Rosalie Abella called The In-Between World of Vikram Lall "an astonishing tapestry of irresistible vignettes, brilliantly exploring the painful lessons of history - national, cultural and personal - amidst the fragility of human relationships. It is a powerful and haunting story of an Indian family living in the turbulence of an emergent Kenya."

The Giller Prize, now in its 10th year, is awarded annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story published in English.

Vassanji’s novel is set in mid-1950s Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion and tells the story of eight-year-old Vikram Lall, who tries to find his place as an Indian among British and African playmates.

The author, who attended MIT and has a PhD in nuclear physics, came to Canada in 1978.

Vassanji is the author of four acclaimed novels: The Gunny Sack (1989), which won a regional Commonwealth Prize; No New Land (1991); The Book of Secrets (1994), which won the very first Giller Prize; and Amriika (1999). He was awarded Canada’s Harbourfront of twelve Canadians on Maclean's Honour Roll.

The other writers on this year's short list were Margaret Atwood (who was nominated for Oryx and Crake), John Bemrose (for The Island Walkers), John Gould (for Kilter: 55 Fictions), and Ann-Marie MacDonald (for The Way the Crow Flies).

The prize was established in 1994 by Rabinovitch to honour his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller.