Each winner of the 1987 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 dollars and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Table of contents
1 English Language
2 French Language
3 Other Governor General's Awards:

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

Other Finalists:

Poetry

Winner:

  • Gwendolyn MacEwen, Afterworlds

Other Finalists:
  • Di Brandt, Questions I Asked My Mother
  • Roy Kiyooka, Pear Tree Pomes
  • Sharon Thesen, The Beginning of the Long Dash

Drama

Winner:

  • John Krizanc, Prague

Other Finalists:

Non-Fiction

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • Janice Kulyk Keefer, Under Eastern Eyes
  • P.K. Page, Brazilian Journal

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

  • Morgan Nyberg, Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army

Other Finalists:
  • Welwyn Wilton Katz, False Face
  • Donn Kushner, A Book Dragon
  • Russell McRae, Going to the Dogs

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Marie-Louise Gay, Rainy Day Magic

Other Finalists:
  • John Bianchi, Exploring the Night Sky
  • László Gál, The Enchanted Tapestry
  • Shawn Steffler, Flights of Magic

Translation (French to English)

Winner:

  • Patricia Claxton, Enchantment and Sorrow: The Autobiography of Gabrielle Roy

Other Finalists:
  • Sheila Fischman, Heartbreaks Along the Road
  • Anthony Martin-Sperry, Languages and Their Territories
  • Patricia Sillers, The Dragon and Other Laurentian Tales

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • André Major, L'Hiver au coeur
  • Jacques Marchand, Premier mouvement
  • Francine Noël, Myriam première

Poetry

Winner:

  • Fernand Ouellette, Les Heures

Other Finalists:
  • Hugues Corriveau, Mobiles
  • Normand de Bellefeuille, Heureusement, ici il y a la guerre
  • Gérald Godin, Ils ne demandaient qu'à brûler

Drama

Winner:

  • Jeanne-Mance Delisle, Un oiseau vivant dans la gueule

Other Finalists:

Non-Fiction

Winner:

  • Jean Larose, La petite noirceur

Other Finalists:
  • Lise Bissonnette, La passion du présent
  • Marcel Trudel, Mémoire d'un autre siècle

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

  • David Schinkel and Yves Beauchesne, Le Don

Other Finalists:
  • Ginette Anfousse, Les catastrophes de Rosalie
  • Denis Côté, Nocturnes pour Jessie
  • Vincent Lauzon, Le pays à l'envers

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Darcia Labrosse, Venir au monde

Other Finalists:
  • Hélène Desputeaux, Bonne fête Madeleine
  • Stéphane Poulin, Les animaux en hiver
  • Gilles Tibo, Annabel Lee

Translation (English to French)

Winner:

  • Ivan Steenhout and Christiane Teasdale, L'Homme qui se croyait aimé

Other Finalists:
  • Jean-Pierre Fournier, Jacob Deux-Deux et le dinosaure
  • Ivan Steenhout, La couleur du sang
  • Claudine Vivier, La Dialectique de la reproduction

Other Governor General's Awards:

2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1996 - 1995 - 1994 - 1993 - 1992 - 1991 - 1990 - 1989 - 1988 - 1987 - 1986 - 1985 - 1984 - 1983 - 1982 - 1981 - 1980 - 1979 - 1978 - 1977 - 1976 - 1975 - 1974 - 1973 - 1972 - 1971 - 1970 - 1969 - 1968 - 1967 - 1966 - 1965 - 1964 - 1963 - 1962 - 1961 - 1960 - 1959 - 1958 - 1957 - 1956 - 1955 - 1954 - 1953 - 1952 - 1951 - 1950 - 1949 - 1948 - 1947 - 1946 - 1945 - 1944 - 1943 - 1942 - 1941 - 1940 - 1939 - 1938 - 1937 - 1936