Congratulations to WCN friend Kate Pullinger, who has won the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction – Canada’s oldest and most prestigious awards for English and French-language Canadian literature – for her book The Mistress of Nothing, about the life of a Victorian-era maid.

The Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pullinger

Speaking at the awards ceromony in Montreal, Kate said she felt “honoured and a little awestruck.”

Currently based in England, she went on to say “I lived in Montreal for awhile as a student at McGill University. I suffered from that student disease known as too much fun. I had to drop out. So it’s nice to be back in Montreal under slightly different circumstances.”

A further seven English and French awards were given to authors, illustrators and translators in the categories of fiction, poetry, drama, non‑fiction, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation. The winners for each of these awards can be found on the Canada Council for the Arts website.

You can keep up with the latest news from Kate on her ’secret blog’ where she has already posted a quick note titled: I won the GG!!!