Scotiabank Giller Prize: Cafe Artigiano

Esi Edugyan Dept: The 34-year-old was writing one 2011's great Canadian novels: Half-Blood Blues. The only clue as to her mission: the faint tinkle of music wafting from her ears, according to Montreal Gazette. Half-Blood Blues would be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the English-speaking world's most prestigious literary award. The novel - a bold and original exploration of black jazz musicians in Hitler's Germany - later won the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Giller is Canada's biggest literary honour. Coming with a $50,000 prize, it is also among the richest and as Esi Edugyan tapped quietly at her laptop, no one sipping cappuccino at Victoria, B.C.'s Mirage Coffee or Cafe Artigiano - two favoured haunts - could have guessed her task. "Writing this book, I'd just go out into the craziness, stick on some headphones and listen to some jazz and type away," Edugyan said, smiling. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.