OMAR EL AKKAD WINS THE 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

Omar El Akkad has won the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize and $100,000 courtesy of Scotiabank for his novel WHAT STRANGE PARADISE, published by McClelland and Stewart. The announcement was made at a gala presented by Rupi Kaur and actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. The finalists included CMD’s Angélique Lalonde for her short story collection GLORIOUS FRAZZLED BEINGS.

Of WHAT STRANGE PARADISE, the jury wrote:

“Amid all the anger and confusion surrounding the global refugee crisis, Omar El Akkad’s WHAT STRANGE PARADISE paints a portrait of displacement and belonging that is at once unflinching and tender. In examining the confluence of war, migration and a sense of settlement, it raises questions of indifference and powerlessness and, ultimately, offers clues as to how we might reach out empathetically in a divided world.”

More details on the Giller prize can be found here.