A legendary editor to Canada’s greatest authors, Seligman’s work is on dozens of awards. Here is a selected list:
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Few literary editors can claim as profound an influence on Canadian fiction than Ellen Seligman, a legend in her craft and editor of Canadian authors including Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Michael Ondaatje. Seligman edited 23 books that won Governor General’s literary awards, and also published books by Nobel prize-winning writer Alice Munro. She died last month.
Kristin Cochrane, president and publisher of Penguin Random House, called it “next to impossible to express the grief I know we all feel with the loss of this incomparable woman.” Elizabeth Hay, another Canadian great who proudly worked alongside Seligman, recalled an attention to detail that was “heroic.” Giller-nominated Jane Urquhart called Seligman “an author’s most essential advocate and guide.”
The immediate reaction to Seligman’s death, which came from all corners of Canada’s literary world, constantly referenced the long reach of Seligman’s red pen, her devotion to the authors with whom she worked—and the influence readers might never know she had on the books they read.
We reached out Penguin Random House in search of a list of just some of the award-winning titles that found their audience thanks, in part, to Seligman’s steady hand. The publishing house sent us an impressive list of Scotiabank Giller Prizes, Man Booker Prizes, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards, Griffin Poetry Prizes, Governor General’s Literary Awards, Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winners, and even a Nobel Prize on which Seligman left her mark. Click the links above or scroll below for the whole collection. Titles marked with two asterisks won awards, while one asterisk identifies finalists. The remaining titles were long-listed.
The Book of Secrets
M.G. Vassanji**
Funny Boy
Shyam Selvadurai*
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry**
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood**
Fugitive Pieces
Anne Michaels*
The Englishman’s Boy
Guy Vanderhaeghe*
Where She Has Gone
Nino Ricci*
Childhood
André Alexis*
Anil’s Ghost
Michael Ondaatje**
Burridge Unbound
Alan Cumyn*
A Student of Weather
Elizabeth Hay*
The Russlander
Sandra Birdsell*
The Stone Carvers
Jane Urquhart*
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood*
The Island Walkers
John Bemrose*
The Time in Between
David Bergen**
Late Nights on Air
Elizabeth Hay**
Divisadero
Michael Ondaatje*
The Retreat
David Bergen
Red Dog, Red Dog
Patrick Lane
The Winter Vault
Anne Michaels*
The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood
Cities of Refuge
Michael Helm
Sanctuary Line
Jane Urquhart
Cat’s Table
Michael Ondaatje*
A Good Man
Guy Vanderhaeghe
A Beauty
Connie Gault
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood*
Cat’s Eye
Margaret Atwood*
Such a Long Journey
Rohinton Mistry*
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje**
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood*
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry*
The Blackwater Lightship
Colm Tóibín*
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood**
The Stone Carvers
Jane Urquhart
Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry*
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood*
The Good Doctor
Damon Galgut*
Astonishing Splashes of Colour
Clare Morrall*
The Island Walkers
John Bemrose
The Master
Colm Tóibín
The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters*
In a Strange Room
Damon Galgut*
The Luminaries
Eleanor Catton**
The Testament of Mary
Colm Tóibín*
The Illuminations
Andrew O’Hagan
The Green Road
Anne Enright
Away
Jane Urquhart
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry*
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood*
The Englishman’s Boy
Guy Vanderhaeghe*
The Blackwater Lightship
Colm Tóibín*
The Blind Assassin
Margarat Atwood*
Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry*
The Good Doctor
Damon Galgut*
The Master
Colm Tóibín**
Brooklyn
Colm Tóibín*
Alice Munro**
Seligman was the acquiring editor for the poetry titles listed below.
Another Gravity
Don McKay*
thirsty
Dionne Brand*
Loop
Anne Simpson**
Short Journey Upriver Toward Ōishida
Roo Borson**
Camber
Don McKay*
Strike/Slip
Don McKay**
Ossuaries
Dionne Brand**
Lookout
John Steffler*
Red Doc>
Anne Carson**
Correspondences
Anne Michaels*
Seligman was the in-house or acquiring editor for the winners in the poetry category.
There’s a Trick with a Knife I’m Learning to Do
Michael Ondaatje (poetry)
The Collected Poems of F.R. Scott
F.R. Scott (poetry)
Settlements
David Donnell (poetry)
Celestial Navigation
Paulette Jiles (poetry)
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood (fiction)
The Collected Poems of Al Purdy
Al Purdy (poetry)
Afterworlds
Gwendolyn MacEwen (poetry)
Nights Below Station Street
David Adams Richards (fiction)
Such a Long Journey
Rohinton Mistry (fiction)
Night Field
Don McKay (poetry)
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje (fiction)
Inventing the Hawk
Lorna Crozier (poetry)
The Englishman’s Boy
Guy Vanderhaeghe (fiction)
The Underpainter
Jane Urquhart (fiction)
Land to Light On
Dionne Brand (poetry)
Anil’s Ghost
Michael Ondaatje (fiction)
Another Gravity
Don McKay (poetry)
Kill-site
Tim Lilburn (poetry)
Short Journey Upriver Toward Ōishida
Roo Borson (poetry)
Divisadero
Michael Ondaatje (fiction)
The Purchase
Linda Spalding (fiction)
The Luminaries
Eleanor Catton (fiction)
Daddy Lenin and Other Stories by Guy Vanderhaeghe (fiction)
Such a Long Journey
Rohinton Mistry
The Afterlife of George Cartwright
John Steffler
Funny Boy
Shyam Selvadurai
Fugitive Pieces
Anne Michaels
Opium Dreams
Margaret Gibson
Childhood
André Alexis
Certainty
Madeleine Thien
The Rehearsal
Eleanor Catton (as publisher)
I’ll Tell You a Secret
Anne Coleman
Finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction
From Harvey River
Lorna Goodison
Winner of the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
Finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize
Wave
Sonali Deraniyagala
National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist