1985 Governor General's Awards

Each winner of the 1985 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

English

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale[1]	Sharon Butala, Queen of the Headaches Keath Fraser, Foreign Affairs David Adams Richards, Road to the Stilt House
Non-fiction	Ramsay Cook, The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada[1]	Michael D. Behiels, Prelude to Quebec's Quiet Revolution: Liberalism versus Neo-nationalism John Herd Thompson, Canada 1922-1939: Decades of Discord P. B. Waite, The Man from Halifax: Sir John Thompson, Prime Minister
Poetry	Fred Wah, Waiting for Saskatchewan[1]	Lorna Crozier, The Garden Going on Without Us Richard Lush, A Manual for Lying Down Anne Szumigalski, Instar
Drama	George F. Walker, Criminals in Love[1]	David French, Salt-Water Moon Margaret Hollingsworth, War Babies (in Willful Acts: Five Plays) Ken Mitchell, Gone the Burning Sun

French

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Fernand Ouellette, Lucie ou un midi en novembre[1]	Louise Bouchard, Les Images Jean-Paul Fugère, Popa moman et le saint homme Suzanne Paradis, La Ligne bleue
Non-fiction	François Ricard, La littérature contre elle-même[1]	Lysiane Gagnon, Chroniques politiques Hélène Pelletier-Baillargeon, Marie Gérin-Lajoie
Poetry	André Roy, Action writing[1]	Anne-Marie Alonzo, Bleus de mine François Charron, La vie n'a pas de sens Patrice Desbiens, Dans l'après-midi cardiaque Paul Chanel Malenfant, Les noms du père, suivi de Lieux dits: Italique
Drama	Maryse Pelletier, Duo pour voix obstinées[1]	Michel Marc Bouchard, La poupée de Pélopia Francine Noël, Chandeleur