Doris Giller (22 January 1931 – 25 April 1993) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

journalist, who was best known as a

literary editor A literary editor is a editor responsible for refining and overseeing the quality of written content in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Literary editor deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary ...

for the ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' and the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' and as the namesake of the

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...

. Giller was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on 22 January 1931 to Russian Jewish immigrants Nancy and Edward Giller. Giller first entered journalism in 1963 as a reporter and feature writer for the ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English language, English-language Canada, Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950 ...

'', eventually working her way up to positions as night editor, lifestyles editor and entertainment editor, also working as the paper's correspondent in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for a time in 1972. After the ''Montreal Star'' demise in 1979, she joined the ''Gazette'' as book review editor, expanding and relaunching the paper's books section. Giller and her husband

Jack Rabinovitch Jack Rabinovitch (24 June 1930 – 6 August 2017) OC, O.Ont was a Canadian philanthropist best known for founding the Giller Prize which is named after his late wife, Doris Giller, who was a literary columnist for the ''Toronto Star''. ...

moved to Toronto in 1985, where Giller joined the ''Toronto Star'' as a books editor and columnist in 1988. She remained with the paper until her death in 1993 of cancer.

References

1931 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian columnists Canadian literary critics Canadian newspaper editors Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women columnists Canadian women literary critics Canadian women newspaper editors Montreal Star people {{Canada-journalist-stub