RBC Taylor Prize announces its 2019 jury

October 3, 2018 • Toronto, Ontario: For immediate Release

 RBC Taylor Prize Announces New Jury for 2019

Canada’s Most Prestigious Non-Fiction Prize

The Trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are pleased to announce that the jurors for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize are: Camilla Gibb, Roy MacGregor and Beverley McLachlin.

Camilla Gibb is the author of many books, including a memoir, This Is Happy, which was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, and four novels, including Sweetness in the Belly, shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and winner of the Trillium Award. She most recently wrote and produced the documentary Evidence of a Father for CBC Radio. She is the June Callwood Professor in Social Justice at Victoria College, University of Toronto, and holds a PhD in social anthropology from Oxford University.

Roy MacGregor has been a journalist for 45 years, winning multiple National Newspaper and National Magazine Awards, as well as twice receiving the ACTRA Award for television screenwriting. He is the author of more than 50 books, 30 of them in the internationally successful Screech Owls hockey mystery series for young readers. His book Home Team: Fathers, Sons & Hockey was shortlisted for the Governor-General’s Award. His most recent book is Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada, which was just shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award. In 2005, he was named an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin was appointed Chief Justice of Canada on January 7, 2000. She is both the first woman in Canada to hold this position and the longest serving Chief Justice of Canada. She retired on December 15, 2017. Throughout her judicial career, she has covered countless areas of the Canadian legal system. In addition to her duties at the Supreme Court, Ms. McLachlin has chaired the Canadian Judicial Council, the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada and the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. She is the author of numerous articles and publications. Her debut mystery novel, Full Disclosure, was published in spring 2018.

Noreen Taylor, Prize Founder and Chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation, remarked: “In today’s environment of fragmented media and constant accusations of “fake news”, literary non-fiction remains a critical medium for writers and readers — a trusted source of nuance and thoughtful argument. Our esteemed jurors will read over 120 submissions and deliberate over which books to include in December’s long-list for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize.

Key Dates: The Longlist will be shared on Wednesday, December 12, 2018; the Shortlist will be announced at a news conference on Wednesday, January 9, 2019; and the winner revealed at a gala luncheon on Monday March 4, 2019.

The RBC Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates.

 About The RBC Taylor Prize:

Established in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation and first awarded in 2000, 2018 marks the seventeenth 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 $5,000 for each finalist, and a further $25,000 for the winner. All authors are presented with a custom leatherbound version of their shortlisted book at the awards ceremony.

The Prize provides all the finalists with promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries.

Earlier this year, Tanya Talaga won the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize for her book Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City, published by House of Anansi Press.

Ms. Talaga selected Alicia Elliott as the 2018 recipient of the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer Award. This award, featuring a $10,000 cash award, and mentorship from the naming author was established in 2013 to provide recognition and assistance to a Canadian published author who is working on a significant writing project in literary non-fiction. Ms. Elliott, a Tuscarora writer living near Brantford ON, has been widely published. Her essay "A Mind Spread Out on The Ground" won the National Magazine Award in May 2017, and her story "Tracks" has been longlisted for the 2018 Journey Prize.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Vijay Parmar, David Staines, 
Edward Taylor, Nadina Taylor, and Noreen Taylor. The Executive Director is Su Hutchinson.

The presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize is RBC Wealth Management. Its media sponsors are The Globe and Mail, CBC Books, Cision, and Quill & Quire magazine; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), The Omni King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Public Library Board.

To download high-resolution images of the trustees and the jury

please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2019/2019_trustees_and_jury.zip

For general information about the Prize please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca.

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Caribbean Tales Film Festival Wrap-up

Winning viewers for Caribbean Movies in Toronto and Trinidad

By Stephen Weir

The biggest news for the just completed Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF), took place not at home in Toronto but in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was announced last week that Frances-Anne Solomon, the head of the CTFF, and a filmmaker herself had just won the People’s Choice Award at the Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival

 

Francis-Anne Solomon

Ms. Solomon, in addition to spearheading the Toronto festival, has been hard at work all spring and summer completing her own film.  That movie, HERO -- Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Ulric Cross, was previewed and premiered at the CTFF in Toronto and then rushed down to Port of Spain to be shown in competition in their T&T film festival a week later.

The film is the first Trinidad / Canadian feature length film to be premiered and previewed in both country’s keynote festivals in the same year.  The movie tells the story of a man who leaves T&T in 1941 to join the RAF, where he becomes the most decorated WW11 West Indian serviceman.  Post war, Cross moved to Africa to work as a government lawyer for several emerging countries.

HERO opened the 13^th annual CTFF early in September and set the bar high for the 30 films that were screened over a two-week period at seven screenings. Overall, organizers are happy with the results of this year festival. There were new programmes added, there was expanded outreach to Hamilton filmgoers, and attendance, with one notable exception  (an evening of LGBTQ theme films) was strong.

  “Our LGBTQ screening is always the lowest attendance, from what I saw on the other nights our screenings were quite successful with full cinemas,” Maya Bastian, the festival’s Marketing and Partnerships Manager told the Caribbean Camera. “I worked hard to increase numbers at our LGBTQ screening this year, and we did have an improvement”.  

This year for the first time, there were three feature length films –  (US) Bruk Out, Rockers (JA) and Green Days by the River (T&T) that were shown weeks in advance of the festival at the Royal Cinema to perk up interest in the coming Caribbean festival.  AS well, there were more community showings of Caribbean films in 2018 in a variety of locations including Hamilton, Regent Park and Harbourfront. 

“Rockers was very successful! It's part of a partnership we have started with The Royal Stompbox music series,” continued Ms. Bastian. “CTFF is in talks to do more screenings like this and the sold-out dance hall documentary Bruk Out screening we held in March.”

Last week a full house packed the Scotiabank Theatre for the closing night of the Caribbean Tales Film Festival and the screening of It Stays With You directed by Cahal McLaughlin and Siobhan Wills. The film was shot in Haiti’s Cité Soleil, a severely economically depressed neighbourhood to examine the impact of the 2005-2007 crackdown on criminals that left scores of civilians dead or injured.

“As the 13th annual Caribbean Tales International Film Festival comes to a successful close, I am proud to be a part of the continued celebration of our Caribbean filmmakers “and our stories,” said Associate Festival Director Diana Webley, “The winners of this year’s awards encompass everything that our theme calls for by leading the way, spreading their message and focusing their light on change.”

Winners in the following film categories were announced: 

BEST Feature - Unfinished Sentences directed by Mariel BrownBEST Documentary - Incursion directed by Sasha-Gay Lewis.BEST Short Film: Kinto directed by Joshua PaulIntersect Award: Passing directed by Lucah Rosenberg-Lee and J. Mitchel ReedCaribbean Spirit: Hearts of Steel directed by Gayle WilmotCineFam Award: Sin Ayo directed by Elizabeth Francisco

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