Each winner of the 1989 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada.^[1] The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.^[2]

English

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Paul Quarrington, Whale Music	Ann Copeland, The Golden Thread Helen Weinzweig, A View from the Roof
Non-fiction	Robert Calder, Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham	Janice Boddy, Wombs and Alien Spirits Robert MacNeil, Wordstruck Dale A. Russell, An Odyssey in Time: The Dinosaurs of North America
Poetry	Heather Spears, The Word for Sand	Tim Lilburn, Tourist to Ecstasy Stephen Scobie, Dunino
Drama	Judith Thompson, The Other Side of the Dark	Tomson Highway, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing John Krizanc, Tamara
Children's literature	Diana Wieler, Bad Boy	Kit Pearson, The Sky is Falling Eliane Corbeil Roe, Circle of Light
Children's illustration	Robin Muller, The Magic Paintbrush	Michèle Lemieux, A Gift from Saint Francis Jan Thornhill, The Wildlife 123
French to English translation	Wayne Grady, On the Eighth Day	Arlette Francière, Kaleidoscope Donald Winkler, Rose and Thorn

French

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Louis Hamelin, La Rage	Robert Lalonde, Le Diable en personne Jacques Poulin, Le Vieux Chagrin
Non-fiction	Lise Noël, L'Intolérance : une problématique générale	Jean Éthier-Blais, Fragments d'une enfance Pierre Morency, L'Oeil américain
Poetry	Pierre DesRuisseaux, Monème	Christiane Frenette, Cérémonie mémoire Élise Turcotte, La Terre est ici
Drama	Michel Garneau, Mademoiselle Rouge	Michel Marc Bouchard, Les Muses orphelines Robert Claing, La Femme d'intérieur
Children's literature	Charles Montpetit, Temps mort	Jacques Lazure, Le Domaine des Sans Yeux Joceline Sanschagrin, La Fille aux cheveux rouges
Children's illustration	Stéphane Poulin, Benjamin et la saga des oreillers	Frédéric Back, L'Homme qui plantait des arbres Philippe Béha, Mais que font les fées avec toutes ces dents?
English to French translation	Jean Antonin Billard, Les Âges de l'amour	Ronald Guévremont, Comme un vent chaud de Chine Christine Klein-Lataud, Un Oiseau dans la maison

References