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
edit| Category | Winner | Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction |  George Bowering, Burning Water
|
|
| Non-fiction | Jeffrey Simpson, Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration
|
|
| Poetry or drama | Stephen Scobie, McAlmon's Chinese Opera
|
|
French
edit| Category | Winner | Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Pierre Turgeon, La première personne
|
|
| Non-fiction | Maurice Champagne-Gilbert, La famille et l'homme à délivrer du pouvoir
|
|
| Poetry or drama | Michel van Schendel, De l'oeil et de l'écoute
|
|