The 1949 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the 14th rendition of the

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

, Canada's annual national awards program which then comprised literary awards alone. The awards recognized Canadian writers for new English-language works published in Canada during 1949 and were presented early in 1950. There were no cash prizes. The Governor General's Award for juvenile literature was introduced, and would be conferred annually through the 1958 cycle, after which there were several changes for the 1959 Governor General's Awards under the new administrator

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

. As every year from 1949 to 1958, there were two awards for non-fiction, and five awards in four categories that recognized English-language works only.

Winners

* Fiction:

Philip Child Philip Albert Child (January 19, 1898 – February 6, 1978) was a Canadian novelist, poet, and academic.James Reaney James Crerar Reaney, (September 1, 1926 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol." Reaney won Canada's highest literary a ...

, ''The Red Heart'' * Non-fiction:

Hugh MacLennan John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award. Family and childhood MacLennan was born in Glace Ba ...

, ''Cross-country'' * Non-fiction: R. MacGregor Dawson, ''Democratic Government in Canada'' * Juvenile:

Richard S. Lambert Richard Stanton Lambert (25 August 1894 – 27 November 1981) was a biographer, popular historian and broadcaster. He was also the founding editor of ''The Listener'' and an employee of the BBC and CBC. His books mainly concern history and b ...

, ''Franklin of the Arctic: a life of adventure''

References

{{GovernorGeneralsAwards Governor General's Awards