The winners of the 1998 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, chairman, and Shirley L. Thomson, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts on November 17 in Ottawa. Each winner received a cheque for $10,000.
English
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
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| align="center"| Fiction
| Diane Schoemperlen, Forms of Devotion
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- Lynn Coady, Strange Heaven
- Barbara Gowdy, The White Bone
- Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
- Kerri Sakamoto, The Electrical Field
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| David Adams Richards, Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi
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- Wayne Grady, The Quiet Limit of the World: A Journey to the North Pole to Investigate Global Warming
- Charlotte Gray, Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King
- Judy Schultz, Mamie's Children: Three Generations of Prairie Women
- Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson, Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Stephanie Bolster, White Stone: The Alice Poems
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- Louise Bernice Halfe, Blue Marrow
- Michael Ondaatje, Handwriting
- Lisa Robertson, Debbie: An Epic
- Kathy Shaidle, Lobotomy Magnificat
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Djanet Sears, Harlem Duet
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- Bruce McManus, Selkirk Avenue
- Richard Sanger, Not Spain
- Sandra Shamas, Sandra Shamas: A Trilogy of Performances
- David Young, Inexpressible Island
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| align="center"| Children's literature
| Janet Lunn, The Hollow Tree
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- Gayle Friesen, Janey's Girl
- Julie Johnston, The Only Outcast
- Janet McNaughton, Make or Break Spring
- Sarah Withrow, Bat Summer
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| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Kady MacDonald Denton, A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes
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- Victor Bosson, The Fox's Kettle
- Harvey Chan, Music for the Tsar of the Sea
- Zhong-Yang Huang, The Great Race
- Stéphane Jorisch, The Village of a Hundred Smiles and Other Stories
|-
| align="center"| French to English translation
| Sheila Fischman, Bambi and Me
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- Arnold Bennett, Voltaire's Man in America
- David Homel, The Second Fiddle
- Daniel Sloate, Aknos and Other Poems
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Christiane Frenette, La Terre ferme
|
- Marie-Célie Agnant, Le Silence comme le sang
- Madeleine Gagnon, Le Deuil du soleil
- Nancy Huston, L'Empreinte de l'ange
- Pierre Samson, Un garçon de compagnie
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Pierre Nepveu, Intérieurs du Nouveau Monde : Essais sur les littératures du Québec et des Amériques
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- Chantal Bouchard, La Langue et le Nombril : Histoire d'une obsession québécoise
- Marcel Olscamp, Le Fils du notaire Jacques Ferron 1921-1949 : Genèse intellectuelle d'un écrivain
- Régine Robin, Le Golem de l'écriture : De l'autofiction au Cybersoi
- Patricia Smart, Les Femmes du Refus global
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Suzanne Jacob, La Part de feu preceded by Le Deuil de la rancune
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- Hugues Corriveau, Le Livre du frère
- Hélène Dorion, Les Murs de la grotte
- Christine Richard, L'Eau des oiseaux
- Michel van Schendel, Bitumes
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| François Archambault, 15 secondes
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- Serge Boucher, Motel Hélène
- Olivier Choinière, Le Bain des raines
- Carole Fréchette, La Peau d'Élisa
- Suzanne Lebeau, L'Ogrelet
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Angèle Delaunois, Variations sur un même «t'aime»
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- Guy Dessureault, Lettre de Chine
- Daniel Mativat, Terreur sur la Windigo
- Danielle Rochette, La Fugue d'Antoine
- Hélène Vachon, Le Cinéma de Somerset
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| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Pierre Pratt, Monsieur Ilétaitunefois
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- Stéphane Poulin, Petit zizi
- Alain Reno, Un tartare pour le bonhomme Sept Heures
- Yayo, Le Chasseur d'arc-en-ciel
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| align="center"| English to French translation
| Charlotte Melançon, Les Sources du moi : La Formation de l'identité moderne
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- Paule Noyart, Leonard Cohen : Le Canadien errant
- Hélène Rioux, Self
|}