Doris Giller (22 January 1931 – 25 April 1993) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
journalist, who was best known as a
literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. for the ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' and the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' and as the namesake of the
Scotiabank Giller Prize
The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...
.
Giller was born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
on 22 January 1931 to Russian Jewish immigrants Nancy and Edward Giller.
Giller first entered journalism in 1963 as a reporter and feature writer for the ''
Montreal Star
''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike.
It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...
'', eventually working her way up to positions as night editor, lifestyles editor and entertainment editor, also working as the paper's correspondent in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
for a time in 1972. After the ''Montreal Star'' demise in 1979, she joined the ''Gazette'' as book review editor, expanding and relaunching the paper's books section.
Giller and her husband
Jack Rabinovitch
Jack Rabinovitch (24 June 1930 – 6 August 2017) OC, O.Ont was a Canadian philanthropist best known for founding the Giller Prize which is named after his late wife, Doris Giller, who was a literary columnist for the ''Toronto Star''.
...
moved to Toronto in 1985, where Giller joined the ''Toronto Star'' as a books editor and columnist in 1988. She remained with the paper until her death in 1993 of cancer.
References
1931 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers
20th-century Canadian women writers
Canadian columnists
Canadian literary critics
Canadian newspaper editors
Canadian women journalists
Canadian women non-fiction writers
Canadian women columnists
Women literary critics
Women newspaper editors
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