Governor General's Award for English-language fiction

The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English. It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each for creators of English- and French-language books. The awards was created by the Canadian Authors Association in partnership with Lord Tweedsmuir in 1936. In 1959, the award became part of the Governor General's Awards program at the Canada Council for the Arts in 1959. The age requirement is 18 and up.

The program was created in 1937 by the Canadian Authors Association and inaugurated that November for 1936 publications in two English-language categories, conventionally called the 1936 Governor General's Awards. Administration of the awards was transferred to the Canada Council in 1959.

The winners alone were announced until 1979, when Canada Council released in advance a shortlist of three nominees. Omitted only for 1981, the advance shortlist has numbered three to six; from 1997, always five.

3 Awards

• Hugh MacLennan (1945, 1948, 1959)
• Alice Munro (1968 (tied), 1978, 1986)
• Guy Vanderhaeghe (1982, 1996, 2015) no other nominations
• Michael Ondaatje (1992, 2000, 2007)

2 Awards

• Gwethalyn Graham (1938, 1944)
• Gabrielle Roy (1947, 1957)
• David Walker (1952, 1953) only back-to-back winner
• Brian Moore (1960, 1975)
• Margaret Laurence (1966, 1974)
• Mordecai Richler (1968 (tied), 1971)
• Rudy Wiebe (1973, 1994) no other nominations
• Nino Ricci (1990, 2008) no other nominations

Prior to 1979, only the winners were announced.

Some winners of this prize have also won Governor General's Literary Awards in other categories, such as Margaret Atwood (Fiction, Poetry).