Edugyan. Photo: Tom Sandler

MacLeod. Photo: John Threlfall

Now that the hoopla of the fall writing award season has passed, it’s easy to tell where Esi Edugyan’s priorities lie. “The baby is sleeping now, so I’m hoping we can talk before she wakes up,” says the soft-spoken Giller Prize-winning author in a hushed voice.

With her second novel, Half-Blood Blues, short-listed for four major literary awards (the Man-Booker, the Governor General’s, the Writer’s Trust and the Giller) right on the heels of giving birth to her first child, the Department of Writing alumna and former writing instructor’s autumn was a blur of red-eye flights and gala events. Now back home in Colwood with her husband—current writing instructor Steven Price—and four-month-old daughter, the admittedly exhausted author seems most appreciative of the breathing room afforded by her $50,000 Giller win, as well as an additional $7,500 in runner-up prizes. “Hopefully this will give me a bit of time and space to get some work done,” Edugyan says.

With Half-Blood Blues now in its fifth printing, Edugyan still seems a bit dazed by all the international acclaim. “It was such a crazy thing that happened with this book—losing its publisher at the beginning of the year, then seeming like it wasn’t going anywhere—so I’m just so grateful for everything that happened this fall.”

But with the headlines and galas now behind her, Edugyan says she is looking forward to getting back to writing. “There’s an idea I’d like to work on, and something I was working on before all this happened,” she says, “but with the baby, there’s no rush—she’s so young. I’ll get to it when I get to it.”

It’s a different story for $100,000 Siminovitch Prize-winning playwright Joan MacLeod. The acting chair of the Department of Writing already knows exactly what she’ll do with her $75,000 share of Canada’s largest theatrical award ($25,000 goes to her designated protégé, Toronto-based emerging playwright Anusree Roy): teach less and write more—right away. “I’m just working on my timetable for next year now, trying to decide how I’m going to reduce my teaching load,” says MacLeod. “It’s amazing how it’s becoming real already.”

Far from being a lifetime achievement award, the Siminovitch came at just the right point in MacLeod's career. “It’s great to get the recognition, and that it comes with such serious money,” she says. “I’ve got 25 years under my belt in the theatre, so I hope I have another 25 in me. I do truly feel mid-career; I don’t think I only have one or two plays left in me, I feel like I have several.”

While her ninth play, Another Home Invasion, just had its world premiere in Toronto earlier this year, she has another—What to Expect—set for a 2012 debut, and has already started fielding calls from theatre companies interested in whatever comes next. “I’m fortunate that I’m at the stage in my career where people will at least give my work a read,” she says with characteristic humility. “At the end of the day, I’m proud that I have this body of work and that people want to do it in their theatres.”

When asked if there was one memorable moment that stands out for her, MacLeod just chuckles. “This will sound so corny, but this is the first time my family has been present when I received an award,” she smiles. “That really meant a lot to me. Having my family with me changed the event, and that was fantastic.”