Montreal-based novelist Sean Michaels was announced as the winner of this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize for his debut novel: Us Conductors.
The book is inspired by the life of Russian and Soviet scientist Lev Sergeyevich Termen. He is known in the Western as Leon Theremin, famed for invented the theramin, an electronic musical instrument.
The jury praised the work saying “The grace of Michaels’s style makes these times and places seem entirely new. He succeeds at one of the hardest things a writer can do: he makes music seem to sing from the pages of a novel.”
Founded in 1994, the Giller Prize is named in honour of the late Canadian journalist Doris Giller and is recognized as one of the most lucrative literary award in North America.
Michaels is awarded $100,000 along with the prize.
A live Twitter chat with Michaels is happening on Wednesday afternoon.
#GillerWinner Twitter chat with Sean Michaels (@stgramophone): Wednesday, November 12, from 2-3 p.m. ET http://t.co/1XPWZbJzUF Join us!
— The Giller Prize (@GillerPrize) November 11, 2014