The 1959 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the 24th rendition of the Governor General's Awards, Canada's annual national awards program, which then comprised literary awards alone. The awards recognized Canadian writers for new works published in Canada during 1959. <!-- is that all true? and when during 1959-1960 did Canada Council take over the program, when complete its first annual cycle? -->
Canada Council for the Arts took over administration of the program sometime during 1959 or 1960 – after the 1958 Governor General's Awards that recognized 1958 publications. Canada Council arranged for the first cash prizes to award-winning writers, "at least 6 prizes of $1000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and drama or poetry in English and French".
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