2003 Governor General's Awards

Template:Short description The 2003 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (70 books) were announced October 20, the four children's literature winners announced and presented November 10, other winners announced and presented November 12. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.<ref>"Douglas Glover wins Gov. Gen.'s Literary Award for English fiction: Canadian living in New York State won prize for Elle, a fictionalized account of Gulf of St. Lawrence castaway". Cape Breton Post, November 13, 2003.</ref>

The separate announcement and presentation of children's literature awards – four, recognizing text and illustration in English- and French-language books – was a novelty in 2003 (continued for at least a few years). The event at Rideau Hall, the Governor General's residence in Ottawa, was scheduled to begin at 10:00 on a Monday morning. "Children from across the National Capital Region will be invited to attend the event, which will also include readings and workshops related to children's literature."<ref name=finalists/>

English

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Template:Blue ribbon Douglas Glover, Elle	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Elizabeth Hay, Garbo Laughs Jean McNeil, Private View Edeet Ravel, Ten Thousand Lovers
Non-fiction	Template:Blue ribbon Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World	Andrew Clark, A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle Andrew Cohen, While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World Maggie de Vries, Vancouver, for Missing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman Remembers Her Vanished Sister Ross King, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Poetry	Template:Blue ribbon Tim Lilburn, Kill-site	Tim Bowling, The Witness Ghost Evan Jones, Nothing Fell Today But Rain Anne Simpson, Loop Tom Wayman, My Father's Cup
Drama	Template:Blue ribbon Vern Thiessen, Einstein's Gift	Marie Clements, Burning Vision Brian Drader, Prok Sunil Kuruvilla, Rice Boy Michael MacLennan, Last Romantics
Children's literature	Template:Blue ribbon Glen Huser, Stitches	Sarah Ellis, The Several Lives of Orphan Jack Barbara Haworth-Attard, Theories of Relativity Kevin Major, Ann and Seamus Judd Palmer, The Maestro
Children's illustration	Template:Blue ribbon Allen Sapp, The Song Within My Heart	Nicolas Debon, Four Pictures by Emily Carr Rob Gonsalves, Imagine a Night Barbara Reid, The Subway Mouse Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad's Secret: From the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights
French to English translation	Template:Blue ribbon Jane Brierley, Memoirs of a Less Travelled Road: A Historian's Life	Patricia Claxton, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali Jo-Anne Elder, Tales from Dog Island: St. Pierre et Miquelon David Homel and Fred A. Reed, The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle Susan Ouriou, Necessary Betrayals

French

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Template:Blue ribbon Élise Turcotte, Template:Lang	Jean-François Chassay, Template:Lang Marie Gagnier, Template:Lang Gaétan Soucy, Music-Hall! Larry Tremblay, Template:Lang
Non-fiction	Template:Blue ribbon Thierry Hentsch, Template:Lang	Michel Morin, Template:Lang Louise Prescott, Template:Lang François Ricard, Template:Lang Régine Robin, Template:Lang
Poetry	Template:Blue ribbon Pierre Nepveu, Template:Lang	Nicole Brossard, Template:Lang Carle Coppens, Template:Lang Benoît Jutras, Template:Lang Louis-Jean Thibault, Template:Lang
Drama	Template:Blue ribbon Jean-Rock Gaudreault, Template:Lang	François Archambault, Template:Lang François Létourneau, Cheech Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies Jean-Pierre Ronfard, Template:Lang
Children's literature	Template:Blue ribbon Danielle Simard, J'ai vendu ma soeur	Mélissa Anctil, Gigi Roger Des Roches, Marie Quatdoigts Laurent Grimon, Le chevalier des Arbres Paul Chanel Malenfant, Si tu allais quelque part
Children's illustration	Template:Blue ribbon Virginie Egger, Recette d'éléphant à la sauce vieux pneu	Geneviève Côté, Le Premier Printemps du monde Gérard DuBois, Le piano muet Stéphane Jorisch, Thésée et le Minotaure Stéphane Poulin, Annabel et la Bête
English to French translation	Template:Blue ribbon Agnès Guitard, Un amour de Salomé	Yolande Amzallag, Le canari éthique: science, société et esprit humain Paule Noyart, L'Or bleu: l'eau, nouvel enjeu stratégique et commercial Hélène Paré, L'histoire spectacle: le cas du tricentenaire de Québec Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, L'analyste