The 2002 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented by Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, at a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, November 19. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.
English
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
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| align="center"| Fiction
| Gloria Sawai, A Song for Nettie Johnson
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- David Bergen, The Case of Lena S.
- Ann Ireland, Exile
- Wayne Johnston, The Navigator of New York
- Carol Shields, Unless
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Andrew Nikiforuk, Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil
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- Carolyn Abraham, Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain
- Jill Frayne, Starting Out in the Afternoon: A Mid-Life Journey into Wild Land
- Stephen Henighan, When Words Deny the World: The Reshaping of Canadian Writing
- Don McKay, Vis à Vis: Field Notes on Poetry & Wilderness
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| align="center"| Poetry
| Roy Miki, Surrender
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- Tammy Armstrong, Bogman's Music
- Colin Browne, Ground Water
- Kathy Mac, Nail Builders Plan for Strength and Growth
- Erín Moure, O Cidadán
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Kevin Kerr, Unity (1918)
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- Claudia Dey, The Gwendolyn Poems
- Lorena Gale, Je me souviens
- Michael MacLennan, The Shooting Stage
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| align="center"| Children's literature
| Martha Brooks, True Confessions of a Heartless Girl
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- Alan Cumyn, The Secret Life of Owen Skye
- Deborah Ellis, Parvana's Journey
- John Lekich, The Losers' Club
- Karen Levine, Hana's Suitcase
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| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Wallace Edwards, Alphabeasts
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- Brian Deines, Dragonfly Kites/pimihákanisa
- Marie-Louise Gay, Stella, Fairy of the Forest
- Rogé, When Pigs Fly
- Janie Jaehyun Park, The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon
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| align="center"| French to English translation
| Nigel Spencer, Thunder and Light
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- Sheila Fischman, Twelve Opening Acts
- Linda Gaboriau, Impromptu on Nun's Island
- Liedewy Hawke, The Milky Way
- Lazer Lederhendler, Larry Volt
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Monique LaRue, La Gloire de Cassiodore
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- Guy Demers, L'Intime
- Monique Proulx, Le Cœur est un muscle involontaire
- Hélène Vachon, La tête ailleurs
- Pierre Yergeau, La désertion
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Judith Lavoie, Mark Twain et la parole noire
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- Claude Lévesque, Par-delà le masculin et le féminin
- Lucie K. Morriset, La mémoire du paysage — Histoire de la forme urbain d'un centre-ville: Saint-Roch, Québec
- Élisabeth Nardout-Lafarge, Réjean Ducharme: Une poétique du débris
- Émile Ollivier, Repérages
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Robert Dickson, Humains paysages en temps de paix relative
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- Anne-Marie Alonzo, ...et la nuit
- René Lapierre, Piano
- Paul-Marie Lapointe, Espèces fragiles
- Louise Warren, La lumière, l'arbre, le trait
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| align="center"| Drama
| Daniel Danis, Le Langue-à-Langue des chiens de roche
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- Carole Fréchette, Jean et Béatrice
- Wajdi Mouawad, Rêves
- Reynald Robinson, L'Hôtel des Horizons
- Pierre-Michel Tremblay, Le rire de la mer
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| align="center"| Children's literature
| Hélène Vachon, L'oiseau de passage
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- Dominique Demers, Ta voix dans la nuit
- François Gravel, David et la maison de la sorcière
- Sylvain Meunier, Le seul ami
- Pierre Roy, Une tonne de patates!
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| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Luc Melanson, Le grand voyage de Monsieur
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- Philippe Béha, La reine rouge
- Jean-Marie Benoit, Le voyage à l'envers
- Guy England, L'ami perdu
- Mylène Pratt, Décroche-moi la lune
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| align="center"| English to French translation
| Paule Noyart, Histoire universelle de la chasteté et du célibat
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- Florence Bernard, F. R. Scott: une vie
- Jean Paré, La révolution des droits
- Carole Sadelain, La nature des économies
|}