Will Ferguson has won the 2012 Giller Prize, the $50,000 award considered one of Canada's most prestigious literary honours.
The Calgary writer was named winner for his book 419 on Tuesday night at a star-studded gala in Toronto.
A dark thriller, 419 is a provocative tale of an email scam and a woman who sets out on a wide-ranging search for those she believes responsible for her father's death. It's a departure from the humour and travel writing for which Ferguson a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal is best known.
According to Will Ferguson’s latest novel titled 419 is one of the world’s oldest scams. Here's what Will Ferguson, author of 419, had to say.
It grew out of the research I did for my previous novel, Spanish Fly, a story about con men and call girls set in the dustbowl of the Great Depression. In researching the classic swindles of that era, I came upon a reference to the "Spanish Prisoner" con game, which dates back to the days of the Spanish Armada. A footnote added: "Today's Nigerian 419 con is a modern variation on this." That the root of these email spam-scams could be traced back 500 years fascinated me. And although 419 is very much set in today's internet-saturated world, the con itself taps into something much older in human nature. That's what hooked me.
A sense of longing. The characters in 419 are all searching for each other -- they just don't know it.
Asked: If your book was being made into a movie, which actors could you envision taking on the main characters?
He said; I wrote the character of Winston with the Nigerian-born British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in mind. And Sarah Polley would be perfect for Laura. Other than that, the image I had of the characters was primarily in my own mind, and not based on any specific people, actors or otherwise.
