Johanna Skibsrud Becomes Youngest Writer to Win Giller

The Montreal-based author won the $50,000 prize for her first novel.

The Sentamentalists tells the story of a daughter seeking to understand her dying father, a Vietnam veteran, as he succumbs to senility in a small Ontario town. Only 800 copies of the book were originally printed by small printing house Gaspereau Press, a five-person operation that has been struggling to pump out 1,000 copies a week ever since Skibsrud was nominated. Now that she’s won, they’ll likely have even more trouble keeping up with demand. At 30, Skibsrud, who is originally from Scotsburn, N.S., is the youngest author to ever win the prize. It was awarded at a swanky ceremony last night in Toronto.