Random House Canada Celebrates Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner US CONDUCTORS by Sean Michaels

TORONTO, Nov. 11, 2014 /CNW/ - Random House Canada is proud to congratulate Sean Michaels on his Scotiabank Giller Prize win. Canada's Premier Literary Prize for Fiction, and the richest at $100,000, traditionally vaults its winners into bestsellerdom and international recognition.

US CONDUCTORS was chosen by the 2014 Giller jury, which was comprised of authors Shauna Singh Baldwin, Justin Cartwright and Francine Prose. The jury wrote: "Michaels' book is based on the life of Lev Termen, the Russian-born inventor of the Theremin, the most ethereal of musical instruments. As the narrative shifts countries and climates, from the glittery brightness of New York in the 1920s to the leaden cold of the Soviet Union under Stalin, 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."

Anne Collins, Sean Michaels' editor and the Publisher of Random House Canada and Knopf Canada said, "I am thrilled for Sean and for this beautiful first novel: the prize is an incredibly generous gift for a writer, and most important of all urges readers who might never have tried this book to crack it open. Inside they'll find a love story of rare power, addictive prose, and in Lev Termen one of the most fascinating characters of the twentieth century."

Sean Michaels was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1982. Raised in Ottawa, he eventually settled in Montreal, founding Said the Gramophone, one of the earliest music blogs. He has since spent time in Edinburgh and Kraków, writ­ten for the Guardian and McSweeney's, toured with rock bands, searched the Parisian catacombs for Les UX, and received 2 National Magazine Awards. He is a finalist for the 2014 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and Concordia University First Book Prize.

SOURCE: News - Media

For media inquiries regarding Sean Michaels and US CONDUCTORS, please contact:Ruta Liormonas at [email protected].