Each winner of the 1988 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:
  • Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye
  • Joan Clark, The Victory of Geraldine Gull
  • Mark Frutkin, Atmospheres Apollinaire
  • Kenneth Radu, The Cost of Living

Poetry

Winner:

Other Finalists:

Drama

Winner:

  • George F. Walker, Nothing Sacred

Other Finalists:

Non-Fiction

Winner:

  • Anne Collins, In the Sleep Room

Other Finalists:
  • Pierre Berton, The Arctic Grail
  • Alan A. Borovoy, When Freedoms Collide
  • Edith Iglauer, Fishing with John

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • Martha Brooks, Paradise Café and Other Stories
  • Brian Doyle, Easy Avenue
  • Jean Little, Little by Little

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Kim LaFave, Amos's Sweater

Other Finalists:
  • Marie-Louise Gay, Angel and the Polar Bear
  • Jillian Hulme Gilliland, How the Devil Got His Cat
  • Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Sleepers
  • Jan Thornhill, The Wildlife ABC

Translation (From French to English)

Winner:

  • Philip Stratford, Second Chance

Other Finalists:
  • Arnold Bennett, The History of the Labour Movement in Quebec
  • Jane Brierley, A Man of Sentiment: The Memoirs of Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé
  • David Homel, How to Make Love to a Negro

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • Noël Audet, L'Ombre de l'épervier
  • Normand Chaurette, Scènes d'enfants
  • Christian Mistral, Vamp

Poetry

Winner:

  • Marcel Labine, Papiers d'épidémie

Other Finalists:
  • François Charron, Le Monde comme obstacle
  • Louise Dupré, Bonheur
  • Gilbert Langevin, La Saison hantée

Drama

Winner:

  • Jean Marc Dalpé, Le Chien

Other Finalists:
  • Normand Canac-Marquis, Le Syndrome de Cézanne
  • Marie-Francine Hébert, Oui ou non
  • Marco Micone, Déjà l'agonie
  • André Ricard, Le Déversoir des larmes

Non-Fiction

Winner:

  • Patricia Smart, Écrire dans la maison du père

Other Finalists:
  • Jacques Desautels, Dieux et Mythes de la Grèce ancienne
  • Lucien Parizeau, Périples autour d'un langage
  • Fernande Roy, Progrès, harmonie, liberté

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

  • Michèle Marineau, Cassiopée ou l'Été polonais

Other Finalists:
  • Denis Côté, Les prisonniers du zoo
  • Cécile Gagnon, Châteaux de sable
  • André Vanasse, Des Millions pour une chanson

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Philippe Béha, Les Jeux de Pic-Mots

Other Finalists:
  • Sylvie Daigle, Le Mot de passe
  • Pierre Pratt, Peut-il, peut-elle?
  • Gilles Tibo, Simon et les flocons de neige

Translation (From English to French)

Winner:

  • Didier Holtzwarth, Nucléus

Other Finalists:
  • Gérard Boulad, Profession: Religieuse
  • Jean Lévesque and Michèle Venet, Le Rêve d'une génération
  • Michel Saint-Germain, Flagrant Délice

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