TORONTO — Austin Clarke won the $25,000 Giller prize Tuesday night at the annual gala that turns Canada's literati into glitterati.

In tuxes and gowns, the assembled crowd was wined and dined before the main event when Clarke, sporting mini-dreadlocks and a red rose in his lapel, accepted the award for his novel The Polished Hoe.

The story unravels over 24 hours and spans the lifetime of a woman on a post-colonial West Indian island.

The book begins with Mary-Mathilda confessing to the murder of Mr. Bellfeels, the village plantation owner she works for and with whom she has been having an affair.

"The Polished Hoe provides a deep meditation on the power of memory and the indomitable strength of the human spirit and evokes the tragic richness of Island culture," the jury said.

Clarke, who lives in Toronto, humbly thanked his publisher, and said he could not have become a writer without the support of his wife.

He related how he told her about 40 years ago that he wasn't going to work any more.

"And like a real Jamaican woman she said 'what are you going to do?' And I said 'I want to be an artist.' The scream she emitted was heard in Jamaica, where her mother lived at the time."

Clarke, who is in his late 60s, is the author of five short story collections and nine novels, including The Origin of Waves and The Question.

"I like parties, liquor and good food," he said with a laugh, adding that the gala was an occasion when people who are interested in books can come together.

Clarke was also the winner of the 1999 W.O. Mitchell prize, awarded each year to a Canadian writer who has produced an outstanding body of work and served as a mentor to other writers.

Holly McNally, owner of McNally-Robinson booksellers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, said she was glad to see Clarke rewarded after many years of writing.

"His book is the richest possible dessert," she said. "It was the most charming soliloquy, as magnificent as Shakespeare's."

Giller founder Jack Rabinovitch said the gala was not about winners and contenders, but really about writers.

"When we honour the short list this evening, we celebrate the craft of fiction writing and all those who work at this uniquely private occupation," he said.

The others on the short list were Carol Shields (Unless), Wayne Johnston (The Navigator of New York), Lisa Moore (Open) and Bill Gaston (Mount Appetite).

The judges were Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King and Bill New. When they announced their short list last month after reading 94 books, Gowdy had said that coming up with a winner from among the five would be the "hard part."

Michael Ondaatje, Jane Urquhart and Margaret Atwood were among the noted authors at the gala.

Pamela Wallin, the new consul general in New York City, also attended, and said it's easy for her to promote Canadian writers.

"Alice Munro in town a couple of weeks ago, Rohinton Mistry, Wayne Johnston coming up this week -- I don't have to say to people 'This is Canadian, you should take a look at it,' " she said. "I just say this is good, good material."

Johnston and Shields are both nominated for the Governor General's literary awards, which will be announced next Tuesday.

Shields, who was recently on the Booker short list as well, was beaming in a sparkling burgundy gown as she was given a standing ovation. The writer, who lives in Victoria, has been battling breast cancer and couldn't attend the Booker event in London, but she was determined to make it to the Toronto gala and visit family in the city.

Gaston, 49, who teaches at the University of Victoria and has written nine books, said it felt great just to be on the short list because it meant he had made a connection with fellow writers on the jury.

"I'm not going to win and you can quote me on that," he said before the dinner began. "But I did write a decent book."

He had been rooting for Shields.

Moore, 38, who lives in St. John's, Nfld., said she too was thrilled to be on the short list, and that she had been reading the books of the other nominees and was excited by the diversity.

Rabinovitch founded the prize, awarded annually since 1994 to the best Canadian fiction book published in English, to honour his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller.

Past winners have included Mordecai Richler, Rohinton Mistry, Alice Munro, Ondaatje, Atwood and Richard B. Wright.

As of this year, all Giller Prize material will be printed on the Richler Font, a typeface commissioned last year in memory of Richler.