Each winner of the 1988 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]

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	David Adams Richards, Nights Below Station Street	Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye Joan Clark, The Victory of Geraldine Gull Mark Frutkin, Atmospheres Apollinaire Kenneth Radu, The Cost of Living
Non-fiction	Anne Collins, In the Sleep Room	Pierre Berton, The Arctic Grail Alan Borovoy, When Freedoms Collide Edith Iglauer, Fishing with John
Poetry	Erín Moure, Furious	Lorna Crozier, Angels of Flesh, Angels of Silence Christopher Dewdney, Radiant Inventory David McFadden, Gypsy Guitar Peter Dale Scott, Coming to Jakarta
Drama	George F. Walker, Nothing Sacred	Dennis Foon, Skin from Skin and Liars Tomson Highway, The Rez Sisters Maureen Hunter, Footprints on the Moon
Children's literature	Welwyn Wilton Katz, The Third Magic	Martha Brooks, Paradise Café and Other Stories Brian Doyle, Easy Avenue Jean Little, Little by Little
Children's illustration	Kim LaFave, Amos's Sweater	Marie-Louise Gay, Angel and the Polar Bear Jillian Hulme Gilliland, How the Devil Got His Cat Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Sleepers Jan Thornhill, The Wildlife ABC
French to English translation	Philip Stratford, Second Chance	Arnold Bennett, The History of the Labour Movement in Quebec Jane Brierley, A Man of Sentiment: The Memoirs of Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé David Homel, How to Make Love to a Negro

Category	Winner	Nominated
Fiction	Jacques Folch-Ribas, Le Silence ou le Parfait Bonheur	Noël Audet, L'Ombre de l'épervier Normand Chaurette, Scènes d'enfants Christian Mistral, Vamp
Non-fiction	Patricia Smart, Écrire dans la maison du père	Jacques Desautels, Dieux et Mythes de la Grèce ancienne Lucien Parizeau, Périples autour d'un langage Fernande Roy, Progrès, harmonie, liberté
Poetry	Marcel Labine, Papiers d'épidémie	François Charron, Le Monde comme obstacle Louise Dupré, Bonheur Gilbert Langevin, La Saison hantée
Drama	Jean-Marc Dalpé, Le Chien	Normand Canac-Marquis, Le Syndrome de Cézanne Marie-Francine Hébert, Oui ou non Marco Micone, Déjà l'agonie André Ricard, Le Déversoir des larmes
Children's literature	Michèle Marineau, Cassiopée ou l'Été polonais	Denis Côté, Les prisonniers du zoo Cécile Gagnon, Châteaux de sable André Vanasse, Des Millions pour une chanson
Children's illustration	Philippe Béha, Les Jeux de Pic-Mots	Sylvie Daigle, Le Mot de passe Pierre Pratt, Peut-il, peut-elle? Gilles Tibo, Simon et les flocons de neige
English to French translation	Didier Holtzwarth, Nucléus	Gérard Boulad, Profession: Religieuse Jean Lévesque and Michèle Venet, Le Rêve d'une génération Michel Saint-Germain, Flagrant Délice