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 CategoryWinnerNominated Fiction Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's TaleSharon 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 CanadaMichael 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 SaskatchewanLorna Crozier, The Garden Going on Without Us Richard Lush, A Manual for Lying Down Anne Szumigalski, Instar Drama George F. Walker, Criminals in LoveDavid French, Salt-Water Moon Margaret Hollingsworth, War Babies (in Willful Acts: Five Plays) Ken Mitchell, Gone the Burning Sun
French CategoryWinnerNominated Fiction Fernand Ouellette, Lucie ou un midi en novembreLouise 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-mêmeLysiane Gagnon, Chroniques politiques Hélène Pelletier-Baillargeon, Marie Gérin-Lajoie Poetry André Roy, Action writingAnne-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 obstinéesMichel Marc Bouchard, La poupée de Pélopia Francine Noël, Chandeleur
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