RBC Taylor Prize Shortlist Press Conference At King Edward Hotel

Drop me a note if you would like to attend. Always starts on time. Never longer than 40 minutes.

RBC Taylor Prize 2016 Shortlist To Be Revealed January 13, 2016
Jury will choose up to five books from its longlist

TORONTO, Dec. 29, 2015 /CNW/ - The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation request the media to attend a conference to announce the finalists for the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize. The 30-minute press conference will take place Wednesday, January 13, 2016 10 a.m. sharp  in the Consort Bar  (Main Level ) of The Omni King Edward Hotel, 37 King Street East Toronto, ON M5C 1E9
The announcement of the fifteenth RBC Taylor Prize shortlist will be made by Prize Founder Noreen Taylor and members of the Prize Foundation.  The shortlisted authors will be celebrated and the winner announced at a gala awards luncheon on Monday, March 7th. at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto.
There will be up to five authors/books on this year's shortlist.  The 3-member jury will choose from the longlist announced earlier in December.
2016 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist:
Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning? By Ian Brown (Toronto), published by Random House Canada
'Membering by Austin Clarke (Toronto), published by Dundurn Press
Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History by Andrew Cohen (Ottawa), published by McClelland & Stewart
Road Trip Rwanda: A Journey Into the New Heart of Africa by Will Ferguson (Calgary), published by Viking Canada
This Is Happy by Camilla Gibb (Toronto), published by Doubleday Canada
Dispatches from the Front: Canada's Voice at War by David Halton (Ottawa), published by McClelland & Stewart
The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew (Winnipeg), published by Viking Canada
Zoroaster's Children: & Other Travels by Marius Kociejowski (London, England), published by Biblioasis
Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway by Siobhan Roberts (Toronto), published by Bloomsbury U.S.A.
Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan (Toronto), published by HarperCollins Publishers
The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley (Toronto), published by Viking Canada
Into the Blizzard: Walking the Fields of the Newfoundland Dead by Michael Winter (Toronto), published by Doubleday Canada

About The RBC Taylor Prize

Established biennially in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation, 2016 marks the fifteenth awarding of the RBC Taylor Prize, which commemorates Charles Taylor's pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction. Awarded 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 Prize consists of $25,000 for the winner and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries.

RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award

Established jointly by RBC and the Taylor Prize to promote emerging talent in non-fiction, the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award consists of a $10,000 cash prize, as well as the opportunity to be mentored by the RBC Taylor Prize winner.

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 magazine, and Quill & Quire magazine; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Public Library Board.

To download high-resolution images of the longlisted authors and their book covers
www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_longlist.zip

To download high-resolution images of the trustees and the jury www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_trustees_and_jury.zip

For more information please visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca.
RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize
Facebook At www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize

For further information:
Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868, cell: 416-801-3101, stephen@stephenweir.com

Ritchie Yorke's first person story of John and Yoko's bed-in now available as E-Book

Christ You Know It Ain't Easy - Yorke tells all about Lennon and Ono Bed-In

RITCHIE YORKE’S TRUE STORY OF JOHN AND YOKO’s CANADIAN PEACE MOVEMENT

Author and journalist Ritchie Yorke is back in his home in Australia after a successful trip to Toronto to launch his first person account of John and Yoko’s Canadian Peace Campaign of 1969 and 1970.  The Montreal Bed In. The Toronto Varsity Rock Concert.  John and Pierre. Traveling the World For Peace. This is the real story, the real truth.

Yorke, Canada’s first counter-culture journalist, was in Toronto to overseeing the publication of CHRIST YOU KNOW IT AIN’T EASY: JOHN AND YOKO’S BATTLE FOR PEACE.

The eBook was published on October 9, which would have been John Lennon’s 75th birthday. Yorke produced his book with the assistance and co-operation of Yoko Ono who has written the foreword.  As of December 21st, that e-book is now available worldwide on Amazon, Kobo and other popular on-line bookstores.

“ I assisted in bringing the Lennons back to Canada in December 1969 to unveil their historic War Is Over If You Want It peace campaign, and to meet with communications prophet Marshall McLuhan and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.” writes the Australian journalist. “During John and Yoko’s Canadian stay, I was given an ultimatum by my employer.  I was instructed to either quit my Globe and Mail columnist job to join the War Is Over If You Want It peace campaign, or get back to toiling at the Globe.  Some choice! ”

The editor told him that he couldn’t work for John Lennon and the Globe at the same time and that he had to make a choice between them. It took him about a sixth of a second to decide!

In the early 1970s Yorke found himself stuck in the middle of a world in change. He was passionately caught up in the Peace cause. He travelled around the planet selling the gospel of peace on the Lennons’ behalf (he and travel buddy, rockabilly legend Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins thundered through 15 countries and 52,000 miles in five weeks).  They were all over the front pages of Hong Kong tabloids – seizing headlines when he and the Hawk risked their lives illegally crossing into Red China to present the War Is Over message to the Communist Chinese at Lok-ma-Chau.

Stevie Wonder dropped by before the official launch talk Ritchie and hear about the book

Before leaving Canada Ritchie Yorke sat with me and videographer and talked about his new Lennon book. The resulting video is posted above!

RBC Taylor Prize 2016 Longlist Revealed

Jury Recognizes a Dozen Excellent Works of Literary Non-Fiction, Just in Time for the Holidays

Jurors Susanne Boyce, Steven Galloway, and Stephen J. Toope today announced the longlist for the fifteenth RBC Taylor Prize. They read 120 books written by Canadian authors and submitted by 39 Canadian and international publishers.

“These twelve titles stand united in their outstanding literary quality. They represent the best in literary non-fiction published this year,” the jury notes.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are pleased to announce the longlist for the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize as follows:

1.            Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning? By Ian Brown (Toronto), published by Random House Canada

2.            ‘Membering by Austin Clarke (Toronto), published by Dundurn Press

3.            Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History by Andrew Cohen (Ottawa), published by McClelland & Stewart/Signal Editions

4.            Road Trip Rwanda: A Journey Into the New Heart of Africa by Will Ferguson (Calgary), published by Viking Canada

5.            This Is Happy by Camilla Gibb (Toronto), published by Doubleday Canada

6.            Dispatches from the Front: The Life of Matthew Halton, Canada’s Voice at War by David Halton(Toronto), published by Penguin Random House Canada

7.            The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew (Winnipeg), published by Viking Canada

8.            Zoroaster’s Children: & Other Travels by Marius Kociejowski (London, England), published by Biblioasis

9.            Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway by Siobhan Roberts (Toronto), published by Bloomsbury U.S.A.

10.            Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan (Toronto), published by HarperCollins Publishers

11.            The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley (Toronto), published by Viking Canada

12.            Into the Blizzard: Walking the Fields of the Newfoundland Dead by Michael Winter (Toronto), published by Doubleday Canada

Noreen Taylor, Chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation and Founder of the Prize, commented: “In our fifteenth awarding, I am delighted to find that the jury has selected such a distinguished group of writers. These twelve titles, one by a former RBC Taylor Prize winner, another by a former juror, and so many by well-regarded fiction writers, reveal a cross-over of literary genres—and that has to be a good thing for all Canadian readers and every holiday shopping list.”

As the jury continues their deliberations, Steven Galloway has announced that he will step down for personal reasons. In his place, the trustees have selected award-winning author, educator, and previous juror Joseph Kertes, who joins former broadcast program chief Susanne Boyce and Dr. Stephen J. Toope, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.

The shortlist will be announced at a press conference on Wednesday, January 13th. The shortlisted authors will be celebrated and the winner announced at a gala awards luncheon on Monday, March 7th. Both events will be held at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Downtown Toronto. 

About The RBC Taylor Prize

Established biennially in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation, 2016 marks the fifteenth awarding of the RBC Taylor Prize, which commemorates Charles Taylor’s pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction. Awarded 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 Prize consists of $25,000 for the winner and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries.

RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award

Established jointly by RBC and the Taylor Prize to promote emerging talent in non-fiction, the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award consists of a $10,000 cash prize, as well as the opportunity to be mentored by the RBC Taylor Prize winner.

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 magazine, andQuill & Quire magazine; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Public Library Board.

To download high-resolution images of the longlisted authors and their book covers please go to:www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_longlist.zip

To download high-resolution images of the trustees and the jury please go to:www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_trustees_and_jury.zip

For more information please visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca.