Each winner of the 1981 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
The 1981 awards were the first time that separate awards were presented for poetry and drama, which had previously competed in a single "poetry or drama" category.
English CategoryWinnerNominated Fiction Mavis Gallant, Home Truths: Selected Canadian StoriesNo advance shortlist was released for this category."Kareda lands Gallant play for Tarragon". Toronto Star, April 29, 1982. Non-fiction George Calef, Caribou and the Barren-LandsClaude Bissell, The Young Vincent Massey Elspeth Cameron, Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life Poetry F. R. Scott, The Collected Poems of F. R. ScottAlfred Bailey, Miramichi Lightning: Collected Poems Barry McKinnon, The The Drama Sharon Pollock, Blood RelationsCharles Tidler, Straight Ahead and Blind Dancers George F. Walker, Theatre of the Film Noir
French CategoryWinnerNominated Fiction Denys Chabot, La province lunaireNoël Audet, Ah, l'amour l'amour Aline Beaudin Beaupré, L'aventure de Blanche Morti Louis Caron, Le canard de bois Non-fiction Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska, L'échappée des discours de l'oeilMaurice Cusson, Délinquants pourquoi? Andrée Pilon-Quiviger, L'éden éclaté Poetry Michel Beaulieu, VisagesNo advance shortlist was released for this category. Drama Marie Laberge, C'était avant la guerre à l'anse à GillesJean-Pierre Ronfard, Vie et mort du Roi Boiteux
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