Suzette Mayr hopes the Scotiabank Giller Prize that will soon be residing on her shelf might finally quash her persistent impostor syndrome.

The Calgary author received the $100,000 award for her novel B次元官网网址淭he Sleeping Car PorterB次元官网网址� during a televised gala at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Four Seasons Hotel on Monday night.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l just look at this award and think: OK, I accomplished something. I can do this. Somebody believes in me,B次元官网网址� she said in an interview after the ceremony.

B次元官网网址淭he Sleeping Car Porter,B次元官网网址� published by Coach House Books, follows a queer Black train porter on a particularly difficult trip out west in 1929. He stays up all night to serve the white passengers on board, as he grapples with sleep-deprivation-induced hallucinations.

The Giller jurors praised Mayr for rendering a work of historical fiction B次元官网网址渁live and immediate B次元官网网址� and eerily contemporary.B次元官网网址�

Other than the effect she hopes it will have on her confidence, Mayr said it remains to be seen how the honour will affect her career.

B次元官网网址淧art of the thing about winning a prize, I guess, is that it doesnB次元官网网址檛 write the next book,B次元官网网址� she said.

But sheB次元官网网址檚 glad this one is receiving so much attention, she said, particularly because it shines a spotlight on an under-represented part of Canadian history.

She said sheB次元官网网址檚 long planned to write about sleeping car porters, the Black men who tended to passengersB次元官网网址� needs during train trips in the first quarter of the 20th century.

The book also tells a queer story.

In an emotional speech Monday, Mayr dedicated the book to her B次元官网网址淟GBTQIA2S+ brothers, sisters and siblings.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 see you, I love you and this book is for you,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淭he Sleeping Car PorterB次元官网网址� is MayrB次元官网网址檚 sixth novel. Her third, B次元官网网址淢onoceros,B次元官网网址� won the W. O. Mitchell Book Prize and was longlisted for the Giller.

Mayr is a former president of the WritersB次元官网网址� Guild of Alberta, and teaches creative writing at the University of Calgary.

Monday nightB次元官网网址檚 glitzy affair was hosted by poet Rupi Kaur and actress-producer Sarah Gadon and broadcast on CBC.

This yearB次元官网网址檚 runners-up, who each received $10,000, were: Kim Fu, nominated for their short story collection B次元官网网址淟esser Known Monsters of the 21st Century,B次元官网网址� published by Coach House Books; Rawi Hage, nominated for his short story collection B次元官网网址淪tray Dogs,B次元官网网址� published by Knopf Canada; Tsering Yangzom Lama, nominated for her novel B次元官网网址淲e Measure the Earth with Our Bodies,B次元官网网址� published by McClelland & Stewart; and Noor Naga, nominated for her novel B次元官网网址淚f an Egyptian Cannot Speak English,B次元官网网址� published by Graywolf Press.

Giller executive Elana Rabinovitch said this year marks a return to form for the annual fete her father founded.

B次元官网网址淟ast year, it was very small. There was still a kind of frisson of nervousness in the air because of COVID,B次元官网网址� she said ahead of the ceremony. B次元官网网址淭his year, it feels like almost the before times, but itB次元官网网址檚 better, because everybody is so excited to be here. People are thrilled to be out.B次元官网网址�

Among the big names who turned out were CanLit legend Margaret Atwood, comedian Rick Mercer and American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter John Irving.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very interesting to see the different incarnations of the Giller,B次元官网网址� said Atwood, a two-time winner and longtime attendee.

B次元官网网址淪ome people got older and died; other people grew up and wrote books.B次元官网网址�

Sitting on this yearB次元官网网址檚 prize jury were Canadian authors Casey Plett, Kaie Kellough, Waubgeshig Rice, and American authors Katie Kitamura and Scott Spencer.

The Giller awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel, graphic novel or short story collection published in English.

This yearB次元官网网址檚 short list was culled from 138 books submitted by publishers across Canada, organizers said.

The Giller was established by Jack Rabinovitch in 1994 in memory of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller.

Last yearB次元官网网址檚 winner was Omar El Akkad for his novel B次元官网网址淲hat Strange Paradise.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擭icole Thompson, The Canadian Press