Sway Publisher Says It Is All For Haiti

.

"Let's Give It Up, For Haiti" says Sway Magazine publisher Alan A. Vernon.The above picture was taken at last week's Sway Magazine issue launch and fund raiser for Haiti. Publisher Alan launches the fund raiser at a Liberty Village recording studio in Toronto. Over the course of four hours over 600 people attended the party.
Performing briefly were: Dan Hill (accompanied by Joe Sealy), Canada’s number one unsigned artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin. Other performers included former Sugar Jones member Maiko Watson, Drake collaborator Aion Clarke, Keysha Fanfair and Saidah Baba Talibah.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15648554@N05/4391512466/
A picture of young Keysha Fanfair performing at the recently held Sway Magazine issue launch is posted on my Flickr account.

The party was attended by a number of key media people (Nneka Elliot, Karlene Nation and Ron Fanfare), Scotiabank Caribana executive members (new co-CEO Denise H Jackson, Marketing Director Andre Newell and Gala director Elizabeth Grimmond) and a few interesting but unknown celebs including a mayoral candidate and a Ghanaian Queen!
Rocco Achampong is young and black and running for mayor in Toronto. Mainstream media have ignored the lawyer's campaign, in part because there is another Rocco in the running - liberal fundraiser Rocco Rossi.
A queen from Ghana? Actually Queen Nana Sika is from Barbados. Better known as Kay Morris, the Toronto based singer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ETLQ4P6MFk) was made a Queen during a music and aid mission to the African country. To climax her 2006 mission in Ghana, the King & people of Ghana decided to honour her for the great work she is doing in Africa -- she was installed Queen Nana Sika of Berekuso, Ghana. Since then the African Queen has pledged to help build schools, clinics and provide support for children and needy communities and to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa.
The launch was also a very successful fundraiser for Haiti and Honorary Consul General, Dr. Eric Pierre, was present at the party and acknowledged the support Sway was giving to Haiti recovery work.

Cutlines: Top - Alan Vernon pledges support to Haiti during the launch of the newest edition of Sway Magazine. Vernon is the publisher.
Second from Top: Dr. Eric Pierre thanks the auidence for their donation to Haitian relief
Middle: Social Media Expert Michael Yarde talks to CFTO Reporter/Diversity Specialist Karlene Nation
Bottom: Dr. Eric Pierre (l) takes names and makes notes at the Sway Magazine Launch.

FEB 25 Launch Party for newest SWAY magazine issue - entertainment, cocktails and lite bites

UPDATE: NEW PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Sway Magazine Black History Month Blowout Party in Liberty Village

February 25th Sway magazine has inspired some of Canada’s hottest performers to show their support for Haiti. Set in a brand new Liberty Village entertainment studio, the line-up includes iconic crooner Dan Hill accompanied by Joe Sealy, top new artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin, among many many others.
Working with the Consulate General of Haiti in Toronto, partial proceeds from the night will create a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees.
The biggest and brightest of local celebrities are set to attend, among which are many of the artists, performers and media personalities featured in past pages of Sway -- including Divine Brown. Tickets are $20, which includes a one-year subscription to Sway.

Date: Thursday, February 25th
Time: Doors open 6pm
Location: WIDEawake Liberty Studios
171 East Liberty Street, Unit 310 (3rd floor)

Please RSVP to rsvp@kimgraham.ca. For more information please contact publicist.



WANT TO ATTEND/COVER? PLEASE LET US KNOW - rsvp@kimgraham.com or stephen@stephenweir.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SWAY MAGAZINE LAUNCH IS A HUGE PARTY AND A BENEFIT FOR HAITI
February 21, 2010, Toronto ON… Sway magazine hosts the blow-out event of the season February 25th at WIDEawake Entertainment Group’s brand new Liberty Village studio. Co-founded by industry icon Maurice Jones Jr., this state-of-the-art entertainment facility is revving up the hip factor in Liberty Village.
Sway Magazine has inspired some of Canada’s hottest performers to show their support for Haiti, with a line-up that includes iconic crooner Dan Hill accompanied by Joe Sealy, Canada’s number one unsigned artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin. Other performers include former Sugar Jones member Maiko Watson, Drake collaborator Aion Clarke, Keysha Fanfair and Saidah Baba Talibah. Among the biggest and brightest of industry VIP’s set to attend are many of the artists, athletes and celebrities featured in past pages of Sway -- including Divine Brown.
As Canada’s national Black lifestyle magazine, Sway is often compared to established Black culture magazines in the United States. Sway is a glossy quarterly publication about the successes, accomplishments and power of Canada’s Black communities. Despite challenging times in the industry, Sway is on the move with revenue growth up 50% year over year, and a recent expansion across the country into all Chapters and Indigo locations.
Sway kicks off 2010 by bringing together this star power in an exciting new venue to benefit Haitian refugees. Working with the Consulate General of Haiti in Toronto, partial proceeds from the night will help to establish a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees.
“What happened in Haiti is a tragedy that we will not soon forget, but I am so thrilled that Sway can, in some small way, do its part to help out. And what better way for a magazine about inspiration and success to assist than by creating a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees,” says Sway Publisher and Editorial Director Alan A. Vernon.
Consul General of Haiti Dr. Pierre, who will also be attending to support this endeavour, agrees: “A scholarship fund will be very important for encouraging students who now face financial difficulties to still achieve their dreams and fulfill their goals.”
Doors open at 6:00pm for this mélange of intimate performances, custom cocktails by Appleton Rum and Steam Whistle Brewery, and exotic-inspired cuisine from neighboring Liberty Noodle and Black community favourite Harlem Underground. Tickets are $20, which includes a one-year subscription to Sway.
For more information please contact publicist. Please RSVP to rsvp@kimgraham.ca.

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Media Contact:
KG&A Kim Graham & Associates
Trisha Lepper
416 537 5645
trisha@kimgraham.ca

Issued by:
Stephen Weir
stephen@stephenweir.com

March Break Fun at the McMichael

March Break Fun at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.
February 22, 2010 Kleinburg, ON —It's the week children look forward to the most each school year and the one that sometimes has parents struggling to find activities to entertain their children. This spring the McMichael Canadian Art Collection will be offering special March Break programming for children from March 14 to March 19—including a weeklong art camp!
The March Break festivities begin on March 14 with special Family Sunday March Break Celebrations programming, which runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is free with general admission to the gallery. Families can tour the Woodland School exhibition, touch artifacts, and listen to Anishnabe (Woodland) legends in the Discovery Space storytelling room. Children will learn about contemporary art of the First Nations, and participate in a special artist-led workshop featuring visiting students from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Aboriginal Visual Culture Program.
For those parents looking to enroll their children in an invigorating and fun art camp, from March 15 to 19, the McMichael is offering a full day March Break Art Camp, for 6 to 12 year olds, running from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended care until 5:00 p.m. Students will enjoy drawing, painting, sculpting, and printmaking in a nurturing teaching environment led by instructors and assistants who are experienced artists and educators. The cost for this program is $250 for the general public and $225 for McMichael members.
For those parents looking for fun activities to do with their children, Bonus March Break Days programming will run daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from March 16 to 18. Visitors will be able to make art, take a family tour of the Collection, play in the Discovery Space, and meet a special guest artist. On St Patrick’s Day, March 17, visitors will enjoy live Irish Music and Irish Fairy tales, and young artists will learn how to make Celtic Art. All Bonus March Break Days activities are free with general admission to the gallery.
About the Gallery
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Culture. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of more than 5,500 artworks, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, First Nations, and Inuit artists.
The gallery is located on Islington Avenue, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Kleinburg, and is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors/students and $30 for families. There is a $5 fee for parking. For more information about the gallery visit www.mcmichael.com.
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Issued By:
Stephen Weir
Publicist
Stephenweir@mcmichael.com
905-893-1121 ext 2529
416-489-5868
416-801-3101 cell

Watch BRAVO! Arts & Minds Special – The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction broadcast Saturday to Wednesday

Watch BRAVO! Arts & Minds Special – The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction broadcast Saturday to Wednesday
Coverage can be seen nationally Saturday, Feb. 20, Sunday, Feb. 21, Tuesday, Feb. 23 & Wednesday, Feb. 24
TORONTO, Feb. 19 - The fascinating story of this year's Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is the subject for this week’s Arts & Minds show. The show will air nationally on BRAVO! at various times a between this Saturday and next Wednesday. Broadcast journalist conducts an emotional interview with Ian Brown, the winner of this year’s Taylor Prize.
Devoted to capturing the suspense and excitement of the prestigious national book prize this special edition of Bravo's Arts & Minds will air Saturday, Feb. 20th, Sunday, Feb. 21st as well as on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd and Wednesday, Feb. 24th.
Viewers will see an interview between Todd and Brown that Bravo! Director Bernard Gauthier describes as “ an interview that is beyond riveting, the likes that arts TV has never seen!” Ian Brown, a columnist for the Globe and Mail wrote a book about Walker, his disabled son.
The show also highlights of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Author Luncheon, which capture the excitement and drama of the event, which was held in Toronto on February 8th. The special also includes comments and reaction from prize founder Noreen Taylor.
The Winner of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Ian Brown (Toronto) for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada. The $25,000 prize was awarded Monday, February 8, 2010 at Toronto's Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The remaining CTP finalists - John English, Daniel Poliquin, and Kenneth Whyte - each received $2,000.
Arts & Minds airs on Saturday February 20th at 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m; Sunday at 7:00 p.m; Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m and Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (All are Eastern Standard Times).
The prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing. Since its inception the prize has fostered a growing interest in non-fiction, engaged Canadians in the genre of literary non-fiction, and boosted sales of the winning authors' books.
Founded in commemoration of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community, the prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation with the generous support of its partners: Ben McNally Books, Bravo! and Book Television, Canada Newswire (CNW), Event Source, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Quill & Quire, The Globe and Mail, and Windfields Farm.
Check www.bravo.ca for the complete listings. This program will also be available online at: www.bravo.ca/events/CharlesTaylorPrize/ To download high-resolution images of the Charles Taylor Prize winner and finalists, and their short listed Book covers please go to: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/photogallery_10.asp For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca, http://www.twitter.com/taylorprize
For further information: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: (416) 489-5868, cell: (416) 801-3101, sweir5492@rogers.com; Linda Crane: (905) 257-6033, cell: (416) 727-0112, cranepr@cogeco.ca

Caribana Festival performers extend Olympic stay to do it again on Canada AM tomorrow

Performers wrap up their Olympic show on Tuesday afternoon - but more to come tomorrow with CTV's Canada AM.

Eleven performers from Toronto appeared on the Ontario Pavillion stage for the last time today at the Olympics in Vancouver. However, the show is not over just yet! CTV's Canada AM breakfast show has asked the performers to return to the Pavillion on Wednesday February 17th to do it one more time for their television viewers. The Canada AM segment begins tomorrow at 8.30 Pacific Time.
Audiences in Vancouver are experiencing some of the exciting entertainment that make the 3-week Scotiabank Festival Canada’s biggest tourist draw -- next to the Olympics. This year Scotiabank kicks off Tuesday July 13th at the Yonge Dundas Square. The parade will be held along Toronto’s waterfront on July 31st. The festival ends on Sunday August 1st with the DeScotiabank Caribana Lime at Ontario Place.
Even after the Scotiabank Caribana performers have left Vancouver, visitors to the Olympics will see breathtaking images from the annual Toronto festival. Last summer The Canadian Tourism Commission, in association with the Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, sent a film crew right onto the Scotiabank Caribana parade route and shot high definition footage to be used in a video postcard about the Festival.
The Caribana video postcard (one of two dozen made for the Olympics) has been reproduced into four lengths (2.5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds), dubbed into several languages, and provided to over 200 official Olympic Games’ broadcasters around the world to be seem by a potential cumulative audience of over 10 billion people.
The Scotiabank Caribana Festival is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Now in its 43rd year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Scotiabank Caribana is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Chutney, and Steel Pan music. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America’s largest outdoor festival. www.caribanafestival.com
VANCOUVER TEAM
Ontario Pavilion “CARIBANA”
1. Denise Hererra-Jackson ---- Festival Director
2. Roborta Atkinson ---- Manager
3. Martin Scott-Pascall ---- Artistic Director/Choreographer
4. Tara Eulith Woods ---- Calypsonian
5. Hameed Shaqq ---- Pannist
6. Denise Chang Kit ---- Masquerader/Dancer
7. Lysha DeFreitas ---- Masquerader/Dancer
8. Danielle Edwards ---- Masquerader/Dancer
9. Danielle Ramjattan ---- Masquerader/Dancer
10. Nicki Ramjass ---- Masquerader/Dancer
11. Catrina Ziesman ---- Masquerader/Dancer
12. Sakita Boodhoo ---- Masquerader/Dancer
13. Christiane Tetreault ---- Masquerader/Dancer
Cutline: Derrick Chan www.xpats.ca took the above photographs today at the Ontario Pavillion. Top photo - pannist Hameed Shaqq, second top photo shows the last dance of the performance. The second from bottom photograph shows the 11 performers and Festival director Denise Hererra-Jackson (sitting at left) and show manager Roborta Atkinson (sitting at right) out front of the Pavillion. The last photograph is again showing the last performance in progress.

Olympic Pictures of Caribana performers in Vancouver - on stage

CARIBANA FESTIVAL TEACHES OLYMPIC AUDIENCE HOW TO HAVE "MAS" APPEAL

Two pictures from today's performance by Toronto Caribana Festival performers are included with this e-mail. Cutline information:
* from the stage: Left to right, Danielle Ramjattan, Nicki Ramjass and Martin Scott-Pascall show Olympic goers how to play Mas! Scott-Pascall is also the Artist Director on the tour.
* Macomere Fifi (Eulith Woods) one of North America's best Calypsonian singer performs on stage at the Ontario Pavillion inside the Olympic grounds in Vancouver
An all-star cast of Mas Players, Calypso singers and Pan Artistes performed the first of three performancess at the Ontario Pavilion within the Olympic site in Vancouver.
The Ontario Government has built a 13,000 sq ft Pavilion at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver to showcase the province’s leading technological, cultural and culinary advancements. As the largest summer festival in the province and the cultural jewel of the country, Scotiabank Caribana was approached to produce a 10 min video and to stage three - one hour performances, one each on February 14th, 15th and 16th.
The intent of the festival's participation is to help promote the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario as a premier tourist destination to visit and do business. It will take the form of a 13-member team showcasing the various carnival arts; Mas’, Calypso and Steel pan.
The Ontario Pavilion is setting a new standard in creativity and innovation. It offers visitors a unique, one-of-a-kind, inspirational experience that will live on in their memories for years to come and reinforce Ontario’s Olympic brand message — “There’s No Place Like This…” An initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, the Pavilion will feature the best Ontario has to offer from a tourism perspective, featuring nightly concerts, culinary experiences, film, technology, the arts and a jaw dropping Scotiabank Caribana performance!
Audiences in Vancouver are experiencing some of the exciting entertainment that make the 3-week Scotiabank Festival Canada’s biggest tourist draw -- next to the Olympics. This year Scotiabank kicks off Tuesday July 13th at the Yonge Dundas Square. The parade will be held along Toronto’s waterfront on July 31st. The festival ends on Sunday August 1st with the DeScotiabank Caribana Lime at Ontario Place.
Even after the Scotiabank Caribana performers have left Vancouver, visitors to the Olympics will see breathtaking images from the annual Toronto festival. Last summer The Canadian Tourism Commission, in association with the Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, sent a film crew right onto the Scotiabank Caribana parade route and shot high definition footage to be used in a video postcard about the Festival.
The Caribana video postcard (one of two dozen made for the Olympics) has been reproduced into four lengths (2.5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds), dubbed into several languages, and provided to over 200 official Olympic Games’ broadcasters around the world to be seem by a potential cumulative audience of over 10 billion people.
The Scotiabank Caribana Festival is an exciting two-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Now in its 43rd year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Scotiabank Caribana is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Chutney, and Steel Pan music. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America’s largest outdoor festival. www.caribanafestival.com
VANCOUVER TEAM
Ontario Pavilion “CARIBANA”
1. Denise Hererra-Jackson ---- Festival Director
2. Roborta Atkinson ---- Manager
3. Martin Scott-Pascall ---- Artistic Director/Choreographer
4. Tara Eulith Woods ---- Calypsonian
5. Hameed Shaqq ---- Pannist
6. Denise Chang Kit ---- Masquerader/Dancer
7. Lysha DeFreitas ---- Masquerader/Dancer
8. Danielle Edwards ---- Masquerader/Dancer
9. Danielle Ramjattan ---- Masquerader/Dancer
10. Nicki Ramjass ---- Masquerader/Dancer
11. Catrina Ziesman ---- Masquerader/Dancer
12. Sakita Boodhoo ---- Masquerader/Dancer
13. Christiane Tetreault ---- Masquerader/Dancer
Photos by Roberta Atkinson

Arts & Minds feature the Charles Taylor Prize Award luncheon

The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

Watch BRAVO! Arts & Minds for reaction and highlights from the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize winner announcement

Coverage can be seen nationally

Saturday, Feb. 13, Sunday, Feb. 14, Tuesday, Feb. 16 & Wednesday, Feb. 17

TORONTO, Feb. 12 /CNW/ - The announcement of the winner of this year's Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction will be the lead item on Bravo's Arts & Minds in coming days. The show will air nationally on BRAVO! at various times a between this Saturday and next Wednesday. Devoted to capturing the suspense and excitement of this national book prize this special edition of Bravo's Arts & Minds will air Saturday, Feb. 13th, Sunday, Feb. 14th as well as on Tuesday, Feb. 16th and Wednesday, Feb. 17th.
Viewers will see highlights of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Author Luncheon, which capture the excitement and drama of the event which was held in Toronto on February 8th. The special also includes reaction from prize founder Noreen Taylor and members of the jury.
The Winner of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Ian Brown (Toronto) for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada. The $25,000 prize was awarded Monday, February 8, 2010 at Toronto's Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The remaining CTP finalists - John English, Daniel Poliquin, and Kenneth Whyte - each received $2,000.
Arts & Minds airs on Saturday February 13th at 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m; Sunday at 7:00 p.m; Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m and Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (All are Eastern Standard Times).
The prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing. Since its inception the prize has fostered a growing interest in non-fiction, engaged Canadians in the genre of literary non-fiction, and boosted sales of the winning authors' books.
Founded in commemoration of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community, the prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation with the generous support of its partners: Ben McNally Books, Bravo! and Book Television, Canada Newswire (CNW), Event Source, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Quill & Quire, The Globe and Mail, and Windfields Farm.
Check www.bravo.ca for the complete listings. This program will also be available online at at: www.bravo.ca/events/CharlesTaylorPrize/ To download high-resolution images of the Charles Taylor Prize winner and finalists, and their shortlisted Book covers please go to: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/photogallery_10.asp For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca, http://www.twitter.com/taylorprize
For further information: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: (416) 489-5868, cell: (416) 801-3101, sweir5492@rogers.com; Linda Crane: (905) 257-6033, cell: (416) 727-0112, cranepr@cogeco.ca

Olympic Games Will Heat Up Once Scotiabank Caribana Arrives in Vancouver

Thanks to Scotiabank Caribana
2010 Winter Games are about to feel the Vibe!

As if it wasn't hot enough at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games! Today Scotiabank Caribana announced that an all-star cast of Mas Players and world renowned Calypsonian and Pannist will be performing for 3 days at Ontario House, located at 50 Pacific Boulevard at the Concord Place Community Celebration Zone.
Ontario House will showcase the province's tourism, technological, cultural and culinary success stories. As the largest summer festival in the province and the cultural jewel of the country, Scotiabank Caribana will be featured in multimedia presentations at Ontario House, as well as three - one hour performances, one each on February 14th, 15th and
16th.
"We expect over 90,000 people to experience a little bit of Scotiabank Caribana at Ontario House," explained Festival CEO Joe Halstead. " Our performers are energized and Vancouver is really going to feel our Vibe!!!"
The intent of Scotiabank Caribana's participation is to help promote the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario as a premier tourist destination to visit and do business. It will take the form of a 13-member team showcasing the various carnival arts; Mas', Calypso and Steel pan.
Located in between BC Place Stadium and Sochi House (Science World), Ontario House offers visitors a unique, one-of-a-kind, experience that will live on in their memories for years to come and reinforce Ontario's tourism brand message - "There's No Place Like This..." Ontario House will feature the best Ontario has to offer from a tourism perspective, featuring nightly concerts, culinary experiences, film, technology, the arts and a jaw dropping Scotiabank Caribana performance!
Audiences in Vancouver will get to experience some of the exciting entertainment that makes the 2-week Scotiabank Caribana Festival, Canada's biggest tourist draw -- next to the 2010 Winter Games. This year Scotiabank Caribana is set to kick off Tuesday July 13th at the Yonge Dundas Square. The parade will be held along Toronto's waterfront on July 31st. The festival ends on Sunday August 1st with the DeScotiabank Caribana Lime at Ontario Place.
Even after the Scotiabank Caribana performers have left Vancouver, visitors to the Olympics will see breathtaking images from the annual Toronto festival. Last summer the Canadian Tourism Commission, in association with the Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, sent a film crew right onto the Scotiabank Caribana parade route and shot high definition footage to be used in a video postcard about the Festival.
The Caribana video postcard (one of two dozen made for the Olympics) has been reproduced into four lengths (2.5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds), dubbed into several languages, and provided to over 200 official (add - 2010) Olympic Games' broadcasters around the world to be seem by a potential cumulative audience of over 10 billion people.
The Scotiabank Caribana Festival is an exciting two-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts.
Now in its 43rd year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Scotiabank Caribana is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Chutney, and Steel
Pan music. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America's largest outdoor festival. www.caribanafestival.com

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Media Contacts:

Stephen Weir
Stephen Weir & Associates
Tel: 416-801-3101 Fax: 416- 488-6518
Email: stephen@stephenweir.com

Time willing Scotiabank Caribana will perform for media in Vancouver. To contact the performers in Vancouver please contact:

Roborta Atkinson | Tour Manager
Festival Management Committee | Scotiabank Caribana
cell: 416-728-8097

Black History Month Exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre thanks to Tourism Toronto

A Black History Month exhibition about the people by the people missed by the people's mainstream media

It wasn't for a lack of trying on the part of Tourism Toronto, the Ontario Science Centre and me (Stephen Weir) that there was a dearth of mainstream media at a special launch of a Black History Month exhibition on Tuesday morning.
Wire Releases. Press Releases. Faxes. Tweets. Facebook postings. Personal Phone calls.The word went out but only the Caribbean Canadian media (Caribbean Camera, Pride, Share, Indo-Caribbean World and CHYRfm), a Chinese Daily newspaper and a Russian / Canadian web TV service came out to take part in the media preview of opening of the special exhibition, "Northern Lights: African- Canadian Stories" curated by Toronto historian Dr. Sheldon Taylor.
What was going on? Tourism Toronto and the Ontario Science Centre are presenting this month a salute to Toronto's rich Black heritage via an exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre. Over 55 artifacts and photos will be on display tracing the region's earliest African-Canadian families back 10 generations.
David Whitaker, President and CEO and Tourism Toronto opened the preview. Speaking to a small group of family members of the Crowley, Newby and Downes families (early African-Canadian Toronto families) and a handful of reporters, Whitaker talked about how Toronto has become a destination for Black travel - various black based US professional conferences will be held in Toronto over the next three years.
This particular exhibition, modest in scope, will not attract tourists to Toronto (it couldn't attract ANY interest from the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, CBC, CTVm CFRB, News 680. Well it is a really long list of people who didn't consider the show opening newsworthy). What it does do is show that Tourism Toronto is willing to support Toronto's black community with funding and marketing/PR support.
The exhibition is located in the Proctor & Gamble Great Hall within the Ontario Science Centre. Visitors flocking to see the popular Body Worlds 3 touring exhibition will pass right past the "Northern Lights: African- Canadian Stories" - so the show will get more eyes now that the show is open than the mainstream media got during the Tuesday launch.

CUTLINE: Two cameras capture the opening of a new Black History Month exhibition. From left to right: Arthur Downes (standing in front of a picture of himself taken when he was a young man), Science Centre head Lesley Lewis, Curator Dr. Sheldon Taylor, David Whitaker (CEO Tourism Toronto), David Oglivie (chair of Tourism Toronto board)

Award winning reporter Ron Fanfair covered the opening of the "Northern Lights: African- Canadian Stories"exhibtion.

Globe and Mail Columnist and Author Ian Brown Wins Big

Ian Brown Wins the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

The Winner of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Ian Brown (Toronto) for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada. The $25,000 prize was awarded Monday, February 8, 2010, at a gala luncheon held in the historic Sovereign Ballroom of downtown Toronto’s Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The remaining nominees — John English, Daniel Poliquin, and Kenneth Whyte — each received $2,000.
Of the book, the jury said: “In telling the story of his son afflicted with a rare, mysterious disease, Ian Brown takes us into a netherworld where medicine and morality meet. He recounts the quotidian struggles of Walker with artless candour, quirky humour and unsparing detail. Marshalling a journalist’s investigative tools, Brown searches out the disabled and finds not only them, but a community of geneticists, neurologists, ethicists, and secular saints. His account of his journey is deeply discomfiting and deeply affecting. Along the way, Brown discovers himself — and the capacity for love.”
Ian Brown is a feature writer for The Globe and Mail; the anchor of TVO’s Human Edge and The View from Here, Canada’s television documentary series; and for 10 years was the host of CBC Radio One’s Talking Books. His reporting and writing have won more than a dozen national magazine and newspaper awards. He is the author of two books, Freewheeling and Man Overboard, and the editor of the anthology What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
The jurors for The 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are Andrew Cohen (Toronto), Tim Cook (Ottawa), and Sheila Fischman (Montréal). They selected The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search For His Disabled Son from among 125 books, submitted by 34 publishers, from all across North America. Books in the genre of literary non-fiction, published between November 1, 2008, and October 31, 2009, were eligible for submission if authored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and widely available for purchase in Canada.
The prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing. Since its inception in 1998, the prize has fostered a growing interest in non-fiction, engaged Canadians in the genre of literary non-fiction, and boosted sales of the winning authors’ books.
Founded in commemoration of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada’s foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community, the prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montréal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation with the generous support of its partners: Ben McNally Books, Bravo! and Book Television, Canada Newswire (CNW), Event Source, Indigo Books and Music, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Quill & Quire, The Globe and Mail, and Windfields Farm.

Bravo! Arts&Minds Charles Taylor Prize Special

This special edition of Arts&Minds will feature highlights of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction shortlist news conference and awards luncheon, and a feature interview with the winner. The special also includes reaction from prize founder Noreen Taylor and members of the jury, as well as profiles of each of the shortlisted authors and their books. The show will premiere on Saturday, February 20th at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday, February 21st at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Check www.bravo.ca for the complete listings. This program will also be available online at www.bravo.ca/events/CharlesTaylorPrize/
To download high-resolution images of the jury, finalists, and shortlisted Book covers please go to: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/photogallery_10.asp
For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize

PHOTO CUTLINE: Noreen Taylor, founder of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction congratulates Ian Brown, winner of the 2010 prize for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for his Disabled Son. (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize)

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates
Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 cell: 416-801-3101 sweir5492@rogers.com
Linda Crane: 905-257-6033 cell: 416-727-0112 cranepr@cogeco.ca

Renfrew, Ontario days - 20 minutes of fame for a dead man. The late photographer, Bruce Paton

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Title: We promised each other we would never go back to Renfrew again.
Sub-Title: Bruce Paton. He should never have returned home

In November 2006 I wrote a short piece for the Toronto Star short story contest. I wrote the story in secret, only showing my wife after I had submited it. Thought it would be an easy way to make $5,000. I didn't win. I didn't even place. Sigh.

The story is nominally about Bruce Paton, a fellow I went to high school with and briefly shared a bachelor apartment with at Windsor University back in 1970. The facts are basically true, although I have taken tremendous liberties in the telling of the story. I guess because the story is suppose to be a work of fiction, I renamed Bruce - he appears in the story as George. And, no not George Heath. George, like me, left Renfrew and never went back again.

The picture above was taken by Bruce when he was taking pictures in Africa in 1980. He described the photograph as: Women and girls in Angola collect water in a desert outside their town by digging down through the sand to the water table.

Here is the story about the late Bruce Paton.

GEORGE'S SEVEN CRIMES OF THE LAST CENTURY ( AND THEN SOME)

The first crime of the day was the sweetest. Black paint spray cans at the ready; George and I had our way with the sign that had stuck in our craw for years … “Renfrew, a beautiful town to live in, population 9,800.”

We weren’t very literate back then, so we made it short and to the point. “Renfrew a beautiful town to die in, population 9,798.”

Littering was our second misdemeanor that hot dusty August morning. We tossed the evidence – two spent spray cans - into the weed filled ditch just before we threw our knapsacks into the back of the pickup truck that had stopped to give us a ride.

Squeezed into the cab, left knee getting pummeled by the vibrating four-on-the-floor gearshift, George and I once again left town forever. We were too young to understand that hitchhiking through life is an inexact science.

“Windsor. Windsor University,” we both chimed in, when the driver, a T-shirt wearing 20-something guy asked where we going. He seemed much older than us, and, with some weird respect-for-our-elders-thing taking place we told him way too much, way too fast.

“Wait a minute, didn’t I see you losers standin’ out here last month?” he asked, lighting a Player’s Plain with one hand, gearing down with the other and knees up holding the wheel sorta straight. We’d been in the ancient pickup for barely five minutes and he was already slowing down to toss us ‘cause we weren’t passing muster.

“Yup. We were on our way to Woodstock. We were half a million strong,” grunted George. “ Trouble was, we found out that when you go to Yasker’s Farm, you need more than a library card to please Uncle Sam’s fascist border guards. We’ve been bored and in town ever since.”

“ ‘Mericans. Hate ‘em. And their fuckin’ war too,” said our now accelerating driver as he spit bits of tobacco out the window. He spat as good as he talked – the back window was covered in brown slime, blow back from an errant aim. “I’ll take you to Kaladar, you should be able to land a ride on 17."

I was all aglow as Renfrew disappeared in the cracked side mirror. Not George. He huddled with his face pressed flat again the right-hand window. For over an hour he squirmed, grabbed his crotch and moaned softly. He didn’t want to let me, or our Sir Galahad know that he had considerable pain in his “man” area.

I didn’t find out what was wrong ‘till we rolled out of the cab of that rusty Ford flatbed. “Shoulda worn underwear” were the first words out of George’s mouth.

Gotta backtrack here because it turns out the real first crime of the day had been just after breakfast. We’d ambled into the Briscoe IGA (dubbed the I Give Ass store) to buy a day’s worth of thumbing supplies. I paid for two cokes, a bunch of Crispy Crunch chocolate bars and a deck of smelly Gitanes.

Meanwhile unbeknownst to me, George was in the meat section stuffing two frozen steaks and a pound of ground down his pants. He brazenly walked out of the IGA with his frayed jeans bulging, rightly figuring that Renfrew’s only two hippies wouldn’t merit a look in THAT region from the God-fearing church-going checkout girl.

We’d been walking alongside 17 for an hour, our thumbs aching, our stomachs grumbling, and George in dire pain when we committed Crime Number 4. It was a berry bad transgression indeed.

You see Kaladar is blueberry country, every home along this stretch of the Trans Canada has a purple stand at the end of the driveway where the day’s pickings are sold. One trustworthy soul had left her stall unattended, there was a sign asking customers to leave $2 on a plate for each basket purchased.

We took two boxes, one of which went immediately down George’s pants – a 60’s back-to-nature approach to freezer burn. We also took six two-dollar bills and a coupla knuckle full of nickels.

Basking in the afterglow that comes from a successful theft, we musta exuded an angelic aura that drivers couldn’t resist. We had a succession of rides from Kaladar to Toronto to a 401 rest stop near Tilbury town.

I guess social crime don’t count. Besides, the only tiny sin we committed on that stretch of our adventure was purely by accident. Exiting a long, low limited edition LTD I couldn’t help but notice a big blue stain on the white upholstered backseat where George had been sprawled out on.

Crime Number 5 wasn’t my fault. I swear it. Hanging out in the washroom of the 1867 Restaurant on 401, we meet a short little guy with hair longer that Jesus. He sported a crushed velvet blue tuxedo, had a garland of flowers around his neck and was barefoot. Never met the James Gang or been to Burma, but, I guessed he was Joe Walsh and he smelled like he’d been married in Fu Manchu’s opium den.

“ ‘Scuse me as I kiss the sky,” he yelled, as he did a pirouette in front of a line of occupied urinals. “ I got married today and I am the happiest man on this mortal coil.”

“Congratulations. Have a Crispy Crunch and some blubes,” I said, sticking out a bar and box of berries. We bonded. I told him our story and our pressing need for a ride to Windsor.

He took us out to the parking lot to meet “Still Waters” his new partner for life, this week. She was sitting cross-legged in the back of a flower covered Volkswagen van, singing softly to a tune none of us could hear.

Still Waters and her husband were real hitchhikers. They had been hitched in the morning and wandered out to the 401 to begin their honeymoon on the cheap. Sticking out their thumbs, they had decided to hike wherever kind people wanted to take them.

As George slid the Volk’s side door shut and my eyes got accustomed to the gloom, I decided that “kind” was not an apt description for who else was in that van.

The young couple, so blissed out on each other, had missed telling us that Che Guevara was at the wheel, and Josef Stalin was riding shotgun. They also skipped over those two guys who blasted Peter Fonda at the end of Easy Rider, and were now in the back with us, still carrying their guns as they sat guard over a pound of dope.

As the van headed onto the 401 one of the gunmen glared at us and said, “Time you got wasted”. It was said like a bored judge delivering, yet again, a ten-year sentence to an habitual criminal.

But we didn’t have to imbibe. The air was so filled with narcotic laced smoke that just the simple act of breathing was enough to render even Cheech and Chong unconscious. George and I stared, red eyed at each other. Still Waters sang about free love, the other pair talked about loving to kill somebody. Today.

I am sure it was a crime simply to look at that van. George and I musta broke a dozen other heavy-duty laws just sitting in there. George was writing his will on the back of the Gitanes. I figured the Supreme Being was punishing me for Crimes 1 through 5.

I now know there is power in prayer; at least for me. Even though the sky was devoid of clouds, there was a crash; a blaze of light beamed down at us from the heavens above. The Doors had been on the 8-track but suddenly the music was indeed over. Bang. Crash. Kaboom. The van was on its side at the edge of an Essex Township cornfield.

We climbed up through the sliding door. There were drugs, bodies and guns below us. I helped Still Waters and her soulmate out. George decided to let the sleeping dogs lie.

On solid ground Still Waters and her husband hugged each other and yelled “Far Out”. They kissed. They danced. They said it was an electric moment!

Yes indeed. We had been hit by lighting. The door handle was a fused hunk of smoking metal. There was a zigzag burn mark the height of the van. I thanked God and said I was reformed and reborn. George told me to shut up and dragged me into the cornfield.

“Either those guys are going to wake up and blame us for having magnetic personalities or the cops will arrive and find the drugs’n’guns or both. Trust me, we don’t want to be here.”

He was right. We staggered through the corn crop, worried about police and the Mafia. Together we walked to Windsor. It took all night.

We reached downtown just as the welfare office opened; George talked me through what to say to get an emergency cheque (or two). We got an apartment -- fittingly it was in a converted women’s jail -- the Chateau Blanc.

Those first few days were without furniture. George fixed that. I don’t know how, I just hope he wore long johns as he liberated chairs, a table, two desks, a coffee machine, dishes, wine and more steak, all during Frosh Week.

It wasn’t working out, he was always mad at me for taking that vow of crime celibacy and making him carry all the freight. I refused to help with Crime Number 6 - the decoration of our apartment and fridge. I didn’t take part but I ate his steak, at his table, sitting in his chair, so I figured I was in a gray area when it came to my promise to the Great Mandala.

One morning I got up and George was gone. So was most of the furniture and all my beer. He had learned his lesson and left the frozen meat in the freezer.

No note. No good-bye. No regrets. I didn’t see him ever again. But, Renfrew, like most Ontario towns, is, a state-of-mind. Parents and chance encounters with casual acquaintances kept me in the loop.

A few years later George resurfaced in Ottawa. He picked up (literally?) a Pentax camera and became a photographer. In the beginning his pictures were earnest but unmarketable. I suspect that a lot more five fingered discounting was required to keep steak on the table.

He went to Africa and was one of the first white photographers to record the start of what has become the planet’s worst nightmare. Upon his return his photographs toured the continent. They helped, albeit lightly, to awaken the world’s conscious to the looming AIDS crisis.

It awoke his own conscious. He began to drink, maybe to forget what he had photographed, or what he done or shoulda done with his life.

It was only a coupla years ago that he committed Crime Number 7. He broke our carved-in-stone promise and did what we both vowed never to do. He went home to Renfrew.

Then he drank. And drank. And drank some more. He fell down. Often. One day he didn’t get up. End of story. We had written his fate thirty years before with Crime Number 2 – Renfrew a Beautiful Town to Die In.

CUTLINE: This story was written two years ago (2008). In February 2010 I received a photo from Robin Burgess, printed above that shows us in Renfrew circa 1968. I am at the left, Robin is in the middle and Bruce Paton is at the right. Don't know who is standing on the roof.

Media Launch: Toronto Black History Month Exhibition at Science Centre

MEDIA ADVISORY
Media preview of special Toronto Black History Month exhibition
at Ontario Science Centre

Tourism Toronto and the Ontario Science Centre are presenting a salute to Toronto’s rich Black heritage via an exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre. Over 55 artifacts and photos will be on display tracing the region’s earliest African-Canadian families back 10 generations.
What: Official opening of special exhibition, "Northern Lights: African-Canadian Stories” - curated by Toronto historian Dr. Sheldon Taylor. This exhibition runs until March 2.
Who: David Whitaker, President and CEO, Tourism Toronto
Lesley Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Science Centre
Councillor Michael Thompson, City of Toronto
Dr. Sheldon Taylor, Historian and Exhibition Curator
Members of the Crowley, Newby and Downes families (early African-
Canadian Toronto families)
When: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 11:00 a.m.
Where: Procter & Gamble Great Hall, Ontario Science Centre
Directions: 770 Don Mills Road, Toronto
Event takes place in the Procter & Gamble Great Hall,
please park in visitor lot.

For more information contact:
Cathy Riches
Tourism Toronto
416-987-9077
criches@torcvb.com
Ellen Flowers
Ontario Science Centre
416-696-3154
ellen.flowers@osc.on.ca

Issued by Stephen Weir & Associates for Tourism Toronto and the Ontario Science Centre

Media are invited to cover: 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON -TAYLOR PRIZE

Media Advisory
Feb. 1, 2010
Media are invited to cover

The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction
2010 WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON

Monday, February 8
Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Toronto
Reception 11:30 a.m. • Luncheon 12:00 p.m.
Winning Announcement before 2p.m.

What: Join host Paula Todd at the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Author Luncheon and celebrate this year’s finalists, learn about this year’s short listed books, and capture the excitement when jurors announce the winner of Canada’s most prestigious literary non-fiction award.
Where: Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Sovereign Ballroom, Main Level, 37 King St. E., Toronto

2010 CTP Finalists:

Ian Brown
for The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for his Disabled Son (Random House Canada)
John English
for Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968 – 2000
(Knopf Canada)
Daniel Poliquin
for René Lévesque (Penguin Canada)
Kenneth Whyte
for The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (Random House Canada)

Prize Jurors and Spokespersons available for comment:
Award-winning author Andrew Cohen (Ottawa); Tim Cook (Ottawa), winner of the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction; and award-winning translator Sheila Fischman (Montréal)
Prize Chair Noreen Taylor
Charles Taylor Prize Foundation Trustees
Established in 2000 to commemorate one of Canada’s foremost essayists, the late Charles Taylor; this national book award recognizes excellence in Canadian writing. Now in its 9th year, the Charles Taylor Prize is presented annually to a Canadian author whose book best demonstrates a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style and a subtlety of thought and perception. www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

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MEDIA: For seating or to arrange interviews contact Stephen Weir & Associates:

Stephen Weir 416-489-5868 • cell: 416-801-3101 • stephen@stephenweir.com

Linda Crane: 905-257-6033 • cell: 416-727-0112 • cranepr@cogeco.ca

Barnes E-Talks English

Minutes after learning that his book Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968-2000 had been short-listed for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, author John English sat down with E-Talk producer Jennifer Barnes to talk about the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. E-Talk is preparing a half-hour TV special about the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize, and prior to the Awards Luncheon (February 8th) interviewed the four short-listed authors.
" It is quite an honour to be nominated for one prize but two? I am flattered," said Dr. English as he prepared for his interview with E-Talk. "And, Daniel Poliquin was nominated as well (for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize and the Charles Taylor Prize)."
The irony that his Trudeau bio is competing with a book about Rene Levesque is not lost on Dr. English. Both the Poliquin book and the Trudeau biography look deeply into the rivalry between the two French Canadian leaders.
The E-Talk crew is in the process of interviewing the "stars" of this year's Charles Taylor Prize Award programme. E-Talk is interviewing the authors and members of the Prize Foundation in relevant settings. Short-listed author Kenneth Whyte was interviewed in his Maclean's Magazine office (he is the publisher). Francophone Daniel Poliquin was interviewed in Toronto's most famous French Bistro, Le Select. Ian Brown was filmed in his home and at his desk in the Globe and Mail newsroom. And Dr. English? In a small reading room on the 14th floor of the University of Toronto Robarts Library, near his Dictionary of Canadian Biography U of T office.
In addition to his work as the editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography,he is a professor of history at the University of Waterloo and the executive director of the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Citizen of the World, the first volume of his biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, won the Dafoe Book Prize and the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography, and was shortlisted for The 2007 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. His other books include the multi-award winning two-volume biography of Lester B. Pearson, Shadow of Heaven and The Worldly Years. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario.
This is what the Taylor Prize jury said about his book: "JUST WATCH ME, the second of a two-volume biography, examines the leadership of Pierre Elliott Trudeau as he manages the threats to Canada's unity and prosperity in the last third of the twentieth century. A master of synthesis, John English brings the sharp eye and deft pen of the seasoned historian to his engaging interpretation of Canada's most provocative, if erratic, prime minister. Here is a memorable portrait of Trudeau at full flood, as nation-builder, strongman, electioneer, aesthete, intellectual, outdoorsman, husband, father, and lover, drawn with authority, humanity and sympathy."
The Charles Taylor Prize is the country's most prestigious non-fiction award. Since 2000, the Prize has been a major driving force behind the recognition and growth of Canadian non-fiction. Now in its 9th year, the privately-funded prize celebrates Canada's literary voices, recognizing the exceptional authors and journalists who captivate us with their stories, insights, and writing style. More than 125 submissions competed for a place on the 2010 Shortlist. Originally awarded every two years, since 2005 the Prize has been awarded annually to a Canadian author whose book best demonstrates a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
The Prize commemorates the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists, a foreign correspondent and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community whose dream was to raise the public profile of literary non-fiction.
The Prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each runner-up with promotional support for each shortlisted title.
The winner of the 2010 Prize will be announced at a Gala Luncheon and Awards Ceremony on Monday, February 8th. The Prize is presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation with generous support from Bravo!, Book Television, Ben McNally Books, CTV, CNW Group, Event Source, Windfield Farm Limited, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, The Globe and Mail, and Quill & Quire. For more information: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca.