Each winner of the 1965

Governor General's Award 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 ...

s for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the

Canada Council for the Arts 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 ...

Winners

English Language

*Poetry or Drama:

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

, ''The Cariboo Horses''. *Non-Fiction:

James Eayrs James George Eayrs (13 October 1926 – 6 February 2021) was a Canadian historian. Biography Eayrs won the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 1965 Governor General's Awards for his book ''In Defence of Canada: Fro ...

, ''In Defence of Canada''.

French Language

*Fiction:

Gérard Bessette Gérard Bessette (25 February 1920, in Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois, Quebec – 21 February 2005, in Kingston, Ontario) was a French Canadian writer and educator. Bessette grew up in Montreal and attended the Collège Saint-Ignace. He continued hi ...

, ''L'incubation'' *Poetry or Drama:

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: " Mon pays" and " Gens du pays", ...

, ''Quand les bateaux s'en vont''. *Non-Fiction: André S. Vachon, ''Le temps et l'espace dans l'oeuvre de Paul Claudel''. {{GovernorGeneralsAwards Governor General's Awards

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 ...