Each winner of the 1980 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

English Language

Fiction

Winner:

• George Bowering, Burning Water

Other Finalists:

• Susan Musgrave, The Charcoal Burners
• Leon Rooke, Fat Woman

Poetry and Drama

Winner:

• Stephen Scobie , McAlmon's Chinese Opera

Other Finalist:

• Douglas Lochhead , High March Road

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Jeffrey Simpson, Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration

Other Finalists:

• John Fraser , The Chinese: Portrait of a People
• Donald MacKay , Scotland Farewell: The People of the Hector

French Language

Fiction

Winner:

• Pierre Turgeon, La première personne

Other Finalists:

• Gilbert LaRocque , Les masques
• Hélène Ouvrard , La noyante

Poetry and Drama

Winner:

• Michel Van Schendel , De l'oeil et de l'écoute

Other Finalists:

• Nicole Brossard, Amantes
• Gilles Cyr , Ce lieu

Non-fiction

Winner:

• Maurice Champagne-Gilbert , La famille et l'homme à délivrer du pouvoir

Other Finalists:

• Jean-Luc Hétu , Croissance humaine et instinct spirituel
• Yvan Lamonde , La philosophie et son enseignement au Québec

Other Governor General's Awards: