RBC Taylor Prize Winner Plum Johnson Stars at IFOA, October 27th. Toronto.

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Plum Johnson on TVO, March 2015

Plum Johnson, winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for her memoir They Left Us Everything will speak at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) RBC Taylor Prize Spotlight. Joining her in a discussion about public, private and historical grief will be previous RBC Taylor Prize winner and juror Tim Cook and author Asne Seierstad. Journalist Bert Archermoderates.

What: RBC Taylor Prize Spotlight
When: Tuesday, October 27 at 7:30 pm
Where: Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre
Cost: $18/$15 for supporters

Earlier this year, Plum Johnson won the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for They Left Us Everything: A Memoir, published by Penguin Canada. In their citation, the prize jury said:

Beautifully written with great warmth and wit, They Left Us Everything is an absorbing memoir of grief, growth, and decluttering. Plum Johnson must deal not merely with the legacy of her difficult, ill-matched parents, but is handed the burden of disposing of the seemingly endless contents of their 23-room Lake Ontario home, which becomes a character on its own in the telling. The task, which she initially thinks manageable, proves Herculean, far more complex than she'd imagined, involving understanding her past and packing up its contents, both literal and metaphorical…"

The RBC Taylor Prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines an excellent command of the English language, an elegance of style, quality of thought, and subtlety of perception. The Prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the runners up. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support. The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Michael Bradley, Vijay Parmar, David Staines, Edward Taylor, Nadina Taylor, and Noreen Taylor.

The presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize is RBC Wealth Management; its media sponsors are The Globe and Mail (exclusive newspaper sponsor), CNW Group, The Huffington Post Canada, Maclean's, and Quill & Quire; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and Toronto Public Library.

For further information: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates,Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 | sweir5492@rogers.com; Visit our website at www.rbctaylorprize.ca