Celebrate the Scotiabank Giller Prize Awards with us on Monday, November 13, 2023 at 9 pm ET.
Giller Light Bash 2023
Giller Light Bash 2023
Celebrate the Scotiabank Giller Prize Awards with us on Monday, November 13, 2023 at 9 pm ET.
$10,000 goal
0 donors
Join us on social @GillerLightBash as we celebrate the Scotiabank Giller Prize Awards with Canadian book lovers!
In keeping with tradition, we're getting ready to celebrate #CanLit and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The 2023 Giller Light Bash volunteer committee is focusing their fundraising efforts on a fantastic auction, with goods and services from local businesses across Canada. We will also host fun contests, games, giveaways, book defenses and even hear from some of the nominated shortlisted authors!
Our online auction will run from Monday, November 6 and close on Monday, November 13, 2023 at 10:30 p.m. ET. We'll have sports packages, gift cards, and much more! Stay tuned for details.
New this year, we are hosting an online 50/50 raffle for anyone living in Ontario. 50% of the proceeds will go to one lucky winner, and the other 50% will go towards
delivering books to underserved areas.
Be sure to follow us social media on Monday, November 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET as we watch the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize broadcast on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service, where the winner will be announced.
Follow our social accounts for everything Giller Light
Instagram: @gillerlightbash
Twitter: @Gillerlight
The Scotiabank Giller Prize is a prestigious honour awarded annually for excellence in Canadian fiction. The Scotiabank Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in memory of his late wife, Doris Giller. Jack Rabinovitch himself was once a Labourer-Teacher for United for Literacy, formerly Frontier College and has shown his support for the Giller Light Bash from the very beginning.
The Giller Light Bash combines a taste of the Scotiabank Giller Prize Gala formalities with an affordable price in an exciting party environment. Originally organized as a house party by a group of friends in 2002, the Bash has grown into a full-scale event with over 1,600 people celebrating Canadian literature and supporting literacy from coast-to-coast-to-coast.
Book Defenders
Franscesca Ekwuyasi, defending The Islands: Stories by Dionne Irving
Francesca ekwuyasi is a learner, artist, and storyteller born in Lagos, Nigeria. She was awarded the Writers Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers in 2022 for her debut novel Butter Honey Pig Bread (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020). Butter Honey Pig Bread was also shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award, the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the Dublin Literary Award. CBC's Canada Reads: Canada's Annual Battle of the Books selected Butter Honey Pig Bread as one of five contenders in 2021, the book made it to the grand finale, where it placed second. Forthcoming in October 2023 is Curious Sounds: A Dialogue in Three Movements, a collaborative art book with Roger Mooking.
Lara Rae, defending The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong
Lara Rae is an award winning playwright and comedian and the co-founder of the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. She also works in social services, work which brought her distinction as one of 150 recipients the of Nellie McLung Trailblazer honour for Manitoba’s sesquicentennial. She teaches on literature at McNally Community Classroom and University of Winnipeg and received in 2023 an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from University of Manitoba for her contribution to the cultural and community life of her adopted home province.
Brent van Staalduinen defending All the Colour in the World by CS Richardson
Brent van Staalduinen is the award-winning author of the novels Nothing But Life, Boy, and Saints, Unexpected, as well as the story collection Cut Road. He is also a university writing instructor, rookie fan of the beautiful game, and
creator of the podcast Rejected Central. Brent lives with his wife and two
daughters in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. www.brentvans.com
Padma Viswanathan defending book Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Padma's debut novel, The Toss of a Lemon, was published in eight countries, a bestseller in three, and a finalist for the Commonwealth (Regional) First Book Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Prize and the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize. The second novel, The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, was published in Canada, the USA, India and Australia. In Canada, it was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a
national bestseller.
An Associate Professor in fiction-writing and literature in the Programs in Creative Writing and Translation at the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, she has served on juries for literary awards in Canada and the US, including the Governor General’s Award in fiction, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Neustadt Prize, and others.
Samantha Warwick defending Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
Samantha (Sam) Warwick lives and writes mostly from a cabin on the edge of the Rockies. She’s the author of the award-nominated novel, Sage Island, and her work has been broadcasted on CBC and CKUA radios and appeared in publications including The Globe and Mail, Geist, Event, Dog Eyes Magazine and FASHION. Samantha directed literary programs for the Writers’ Guild of Alberta for over a decade and has interviewed dozens of authors about their creative process including Anthony Doerr (All The Light We Cannot See), Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap), Anna Porter (Kasztner's Train), and Deborah Willis (Girlfriend on Mars). In 2019, Sam was the recipient of the United for Literacy Companion leadership award for her dedication to the cause of literacy in Canada. She is currently in the final stages of completing her second novel.
Guess the Giller!
Who will win the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize? GUESS NOW! The person who guesses correctly will be entered into a draw to win a prize pack of all 5 shortlisted books. The contest closes on Monday, November 13 at 9 pm ET.
1. Players must be 18 or older, must be residing and have a mailing address within Ontario upon purchase of tickets.
2. Ticket details is as follows:
a. Purchase Price of ticket(s)
1 for $10.00, 5 for $25.00, 20 for $50.00
b. Maximum tickets being made available for sale will are unlimited.
c. The date(s), time(s), and location of the draw(s) will be
"50/50 Draw": November 17, 2023 at 3:00 PM EST
35 Jackes Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4T 1E2
3. The prize description is as follows:
50% of ticket sales will be given to the winner via cheque.
4. The draw details are as follows:
Only 1 draw where winner will receive 50% of ticket sales raised during the ticket sales period. The winner will be determined by a random draw utilizing an AGCO registered Electronic Raffle Supplier (ERS) Random Number Generator (RNG). The winner shall be announced to all participants via electronic notification, via an eblast, and will be published on www.gillelightbash.ca
5. Elimination of winners is as follows:
There's only one draw to be conducted, no subsequent draws after that.
6. Conditions and eligibility are as follow:
Participants must be located within the province of Ontario.
The following individuals are not eligible to participate in the raffle:
All employees of the organization associated with the management and execution of the raffle, and all of the organization's board members.
The winner’s name must match a valid ID.
7. Other restrictions to winning the prize are as follows:
The organization is not responsible for difficulties arising in contacting the winner due to the winner entering erroneous contact information at the time of purchase.
If a person believes they are a winner and haven't been contacted by organization staff, please email jchow@unitedforliteracy.ca or call 1-800-555-6523.
8. Conditions to unclaimed prize(s) are as follows:
The organization will make every reasonable effort to contact the winner in accordance to AGCO's rules and regulations.
Winners have at least 6 months from the date the prize was awarded to claim the prize. At the end of the six-month period the total amount of the prize held in trust, including interest, or the value of a merchandise prize equal to the manufacturer's suggested retail price, must be included by the licensee in the gross proceeds of the lottery event.
Lottery licensing Policy stipulates that any prizes which are not claimed must be secured or placed in safekeeping for a period of six (6) months from the date of the draw. If at the end of six (6) months the prize has still not been claimed, the prize or monies equivalent to the fair market value of the prize must be donated to a beneficiary approved by the licensing authority.
9. How to purchase tickets is as follows:
Tickets can only be purchased online at www.gillerlightbash.ca
10. For refunds, lost or stolen tickets: A valid reason for claiming refund and dispute or lost tickets after the draw is done shall be emailed to the organization for verification before refunding and no refund shall be issued after the draw is done unless deemed reasonable by the organization.
11. To contact the organization please email jchow@unitedforliteracy.ca or call 1-800-555-6523.
12. ConnexOntario problem gambling service phone line
Draw 1: $690 (50% of $1,380)
All prize values are estimates. Tickets are entered into the draws that have not passed at the time of purchase.
We are United for Literacy.
Formerly Frontier College, United for Literacy is the national registered charity dedicated to improving the lives of children, youth, and adults through literacy. With over a century of frontline experience we know just how profoundly literacy changes everything…for people and communities. No other skill shapes the trajectory of a person’s life more than the ability to read and write.
Supported by volunteers, we reach out to people wherever they are and respond to their learning needs. Our services are free for learners because we believe literacy is a human right. For more information about the work we do, visit www.unitedforliteracy.ca.