Each winner of the 1990 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5 000 dollars and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners 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:
  • Sky Lee, Disappearing Moon Café
  • Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
  • Leslie Hall Pinder, On Double Tracks
  • Diane Schoemperlen, Man of My Dreams

Poetry

Winner:

Other Finalists:

Drama

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • Audrey Butler, Black Friday?
  • John Mighton, Scientific Americans
  • George F. Walker, Love and Anger

Non-Fiction

Winner:

  • Stephen Clarkson & Christina McCall, Trudeau and Our Times

Other Finalists:
  • Timothy Findley, Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook
  • Eugene Forsey, A Life on the Fringe: The Memoirs of Eugene Forsey
  • Ron Graham, God's Dominion: A Sceptic's Quest
  • James King, The Last Modern: A Life of Herbert Read

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

  • Michael Bedard, Redwork

Other Finalists:

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Paul Morin, The Orphan Boy

Other Finalists:
  • Warabé Aska, Seasons
  • Frances Tyrrell, The Huron Carol

Translation (from French to English)

Winner:

  • Jane Brierley, Yellow-Wolf and Other Tales of the Saint Lawrence

Other Finalists:
  • Patricia Claxton, Letters to Bernadette
  • Sheila Fischman, Benito
  • Tony Martin-Sperry, Charlevoix: Two Centuries at Murray Bay
  • Susan Usher, Community Care and Participatory Research

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

Other Finalists:
  • Louis Lefebvre, Le Collier d'Hurracan
  • Michèle Mailhot, Le Passé composé
  • Jean Marcel, Jérôme ou de la traduction
  • France Vézina, Osther, le chat criblé d'étoiles

Poetry

Winner:

  • Jean-Paul Daoust, Les Cendres bleues

Other Finalists:
  • Geneviève Amyot, Corps d'atelier
  • André Brochu, Dans les chances de l'air
  • Denise Desautels, Leçons de Venise
  • Joël Des Rosiers, Tribu

Drama

Winner:

  • Jovette Marchessault, Le Voyage magnifique d'Emily Carr

Other Finalists:
  • René-Daniel Dubois, Le Troisième fils du professeur Yourolov
  • Anne Hébert, L'Île de la Demoiselle

Non-Fiction

Winner:

  • Jean-François Lisée, Dans l'oeil de l'aigle

Other Finalists:
  • Gérard Bergeron, Petit traité de l'État de France'
  • Martin Blais, L'Autre Thomas d'Aquin
  • Daniel Latouche, Le Bazar
  • Laurent-Michel Vacher, L'Empire du moderne

Children's Literature - Text

Winner:

  • Christiane Duchesne, La Vraie histoire du chien de Clara Vic

Other Finalists:
  • José Fréchette, L'Automne à 15 ans
  • Philippe Gauthier, L'Héritage de Qader
  • Johanne Massé, Le Passé en péril

Children's Literature - Illustration

Winner:

  • Pierre Pratt, Les Fantaisies de l'oncle Henri

Other Finalists:
  • Mireille Levert, Jérémie et Mme Ming,
  • Stéphane Poulin, Les Amours de ma mère,

Translation (from English to French)

Winner:

  • Charlotte et Robert Melançon, Le Second rouleau

Other Finalists:
  • Claire Dupond, Lettres à un ami québécois
  • Ivan Steenhout, Onyx John

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