U of G professor honoured with Governor General’s Literary Award

A creative writing professor at the University of Guelph is the recipient of a Governor General’s Literary Award.

Kyo Maclear wrote a memoir, published this year, about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath and the power of love.

Maclear is one of four nominees affiliated with post-secondary schools and was named this year’s winner for Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets.

In a news release on Thursday, Maclear said she was honoured to land on the short list with her fellow nominees.

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“And now, I’m doubly honoured that the book found a kind of resonance,” she said.

The Govenor General’s Literary Awards was established in 1936 to recognize the best in literature in Canada.

Maclear has been a creative non-fiction and hybrid forms instructor with the post-secondary school for the last three years.

Her work has been translated into 18 languages, published in more than two dozen countries and received multiple nominations.

A peer assessment committee picks the finalists and winners and they’re selected across seven categories.

Winners each receive $25,000, and a $3,000 grant goes to their publisher, the latter of which promotes the book, and finalists receive $1,000.

Maclear will be honored in a special gathering in Ottawa next year.