Esi Does It On Winning Book Prizes

Edugyan Wins the Giller Again for Her Novel About A Bajan Slave.

 By Stephen Weir

Esi Edugyan has won Canada’s most prestigious fiction book prize again!  Earlier this week the young novelist captured the Giller Prize for her new book Washington Black, it is the second time that she has captured the $100,000 award.

She won the prize at a black tie dinner event in Toronto on Monday. The announcement was made in front of nearly 500 members of the publishing, media and arts communities.

Washington Black tells the story of George Washington Black; an eleven-year-old field slave living on a Barbados sugar plantation. From the brutal cane plantations to the icy waters of the Canadian Arctic, from the mud-filled streets of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black is the tale – inspired by a true story – of a world destroyed by slavery and the search to make it whole again.

Although the book is a work of fiction, the author told the CBC that details about slavery are unfortunately true. “"I was doing a lot of research into the history of slavery in the Caribbean. The acts of brutality described in the novel are things that came directly from history. There's nothing I made up."

"I just have to say that in a climate in which so many forms of truth telling are under siege this feels like a wonderful and important celebration of words," Esi Edugyan said shortly after she learned that she had once again won Canada’s top fiction award.

Esi Edugyan made history in 2011 by being the first Black woman to win the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel Half-Blood Blues.  The four other finalists were;

• Patrick deWitt for his novel French Exit,
• Eric Dupont for his novel Songs for the Cold of Heart, translated by Peter McCambridge,
• Sheila Heti for her novel Motherhood,
• Thea Lim for her novel An Ocean of Minutes, 

Ms Edugyan is currently Canada’s most successful fiction writer. She has won the Giller twice, was the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, was a finalist for the Writer’s Trust Prize and was shortlisted for the world’s leading literature award, the UK’s Man Booker Prize.

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, to Ghanaian immigrant parents, Edugyan studied creative writing at the University of Victoria BC.  She lives and writes in Victoria, she and her husband poet Steven Price are the parents of a 7-year old child.  

Susan Pedersen wins the Cundill Prize!

The Guardians wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature

Susan Pedersen wins coveted $75,000 US grand prize

                    

November 3, 2015 – The winner of the 2015 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature at McGill was announced last night at a gala awards dinner held in Toronto. Now in its eighth year, the Cundill Prize is the world’s most lucrative international award for a nonfiction book.  The Guardians took home the top prize of US$75,000. 

Dr. Susan Pedersen is a professor of history at Columbia University in the US.  She was born in Japan to Canadian missionaries. She continues to be a Canadian citizen.

Susan Pedersen’s The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire is a riveting work of global history.  At the end of the First World War, the Paris Peace Conference saw a battle over the future of empire. The victorious allied powers wanted to annex the Ottoman territories and German colonies, Woodrow Wilson and a groundswell of anti-imperialist activism stood in their way. The countries reluctantly agreed to hold and administer those allied conquests under the new League of Nations. The Guardiansenables us to see the League with new eyes, and in doing so, appreciate how complex, multivalent, and consequential this first great experiment in internationalism really was.

There were three international finalists in the running for this year’s prize. The three are American historianSven Beckert for his book, Empire of Cotton: A Global History (Alfred A. Knopf), Canadian historianSusan Pedersen – The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire (Oxford University Press) and German philosopher Bettina Stangneth – Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer (Bodley Head).  The finalists were selected from 159 submissions received from publishers worldwide.

In addition to the winner, the two remaining finalists were each awarded a “Recognition of Excellence” prize of US$10,000. 

Sven Beckert’s Empire of Cotton: A Global History is an epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. “Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism” writes Sven Beckert. The award winning historian tells the story of how European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world.

Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer provides the world with, for the first time, a true understanding of the Manager of the Holocaust, Adolf   Eichmann.  Hamburg-based philosopher Belinda Stangneth has used previously unmined archival sources, particularly Eichmann’s own compulsive notes made in exile, in conjunction with a recently discovered series of taped conversations to give a  chilling portrait  not of  a  reclusive, taciturn  war  criminal  on  the  run in Argentina,  but  of  a highly  skilled manipulator with an inexhaustible ability to reinvent himself, an unrepentant mass-murderer eager for acolytes to discuss past glories and political plans for the future.

“Celebrating the vital work of historians and the role of history in our societies is fundamental to the core values of the Cundill Prize.  McGill University is proud to administer the Cundill Prize and we are delighted with the quality of the books that were entered,” said Prof. Hudson Meadwell, who serves as Administrative Chair of the Cundill Prize. “Each year we see growing interest in this Prize.  The Prize will continue to identify and to reward those works that shape our historical understanding of the world.”

This year’s Cundill jury includes Anthony Cary, British Commissioner of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan; David Frum, author and editor for The Atlantic; Chad Gaffield, University of Ottawa Professor of History and University Research Chair in Digital Scholarship; Maya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History and Harvard College Professor at Harvard University  (Liberty’s Exiles:  American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World); and author Anna Porter, (Buying a Better World: George Soros and Billionaire Philanthropy, The Ghosts of Europe) winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

About the Prize: The Cundill Prize in Historical Literature at McGill is the world’s most important international nonfiction literature prize. It was established in 2008 by McGill alumnus F. Peter Cundill, who passed away in January 2011. The prize is administered by McGill University’s Dean of Arts, with the help of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC), and is awarded annually to an individual who has published a book determined to have had a profound literary, social and academic impact in the area of history.  

Contacts:

TORONTO:

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Stephen@stephenweir.com

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Cynthia Lee,

McGill University

cynthia.lee@mcgill.ca 

514-398-6754

For more information: www.cundillprize.com

Follow us on Twitter: @CundillPrize    

www.mcgill.ca

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com
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CANADA. M4R 1G5
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RBC Taylor Prize Winner Chosen

Plum Johnson Wins the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for They Left Us Everything

TORONTO, March 2, 2015 /CNW/ - The Winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize is Plum Johnson, author of They Left Us Everything, published by Penguin Canada. The $25,000 award was announced today in Toronto by Prize founder and Chair Noreen Taylor during a gala luncheon celebrating this year's finalists. This was the 14th awarding of the country's most prestigious prize for literary non-fiction.

Of the book, the jury notes: "[The story is] beautifully observed and 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. A story of love, loss, and legacy, written with compassion and humour, it subtly evokes T.S. Eliot's lines: "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

Plum Johnson is an award-winning author, artist, and entrepreneur. She was the founder of KidsCanada Publishing Corp., publisher of KidsToronto, and co-founder of Help's Here! resource magazine for seniors and caregivers. The author lives in Toronto where she paints and is working on her next book.

The five finalists for the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize were: Plum Johnson (Toronto, Ontario) for They Left Us Everything, published by Penguin Canada; David O'Keefe (Montreal, Quebec) for One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada's Tragedy at Dieppe, published by Random House Canada; Barbara Taylor (London, England) for The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness In Our Times, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada; M.G. Vassanji (Toronto, Ontario) for And Home Was Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa, published by Doubleday Canada; and Kathleen Winter (Montreal, Quebec) for Boundless, published by House of Anansi Press.
Presenting partner RBC Wealth Management will host Plum Johnson on a speaking tour of selected Canadian cities.

The jurors for the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize are: Kevin Garland, former executive director of the National Ballet of Canada; Martin Levin, editor, columnist, and playwright; and Andrew Preston, winner of the 2013 RBC Taylor Prize, editor, and lecturer. Diverse and accomplished, this year's decision-making team approached their reading list with skill to determine the best works of literary non-fiction for this the 14th awarding of the prestigious Prize.

"This is a prize that pushes non-fiction boundaries," commented Noreen Taylor. "Each year the winner sets the bar higher and higher for standards of excellence in the field of a unique Canadian non-fiction genre."

The 2015 RBC Taylor Prize also includes its second annual Emerging Writers Award, which is to be given to a promising Canadian author of non-fiction selected by the winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize. The recipient of the Emerging Writers Award will receive $10,000 and the opportunity to be mentored under the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize winner. The second annual winner of the Emerging Writers Award will be announced later this month.

"On behalf of RBC Wealth Management, congratulations to Plum Johnson for this outstanding achievement" said Vijay Parmar, president of RBC PH&N Investment Counsel. "We are proud of our ongoing commitment to supporting talented Canadian authors and their passion for literary excellence through the RBC Taylor Prize. Presented 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 RBC Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. Since its inception as The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, the Prize has helped engage Canadians in literary non-fiction and boost sales of its finalists' books."

About the RBC Taylor Prize: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. 

The Emerging Writer's award was established in 2013 to provide recognition and assistance to a Canadian published author who is working on a significant writing project, preferably but not limited to literary non-fiction. Through mentorship from the nominating author, and a $10,000 cash award, it is intended that the writer will be able to progress toward the creation of a first draft work. 

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Michael Bradley (Toronto), Vijay Parmar (Toronto), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto).

The presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize is RBC Wealth Management, its major sponsor is Metropia, 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, International Festival of Authors (IFOA), The Omni King Edward Hotel, and The Toronto Library Board.
For more information visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca. For more information about the finalists visit www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/finalists_15.asp. Visit RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize.
To download high-resolution images of our 2015 winner, the jury, finalists, and all shortlisted titles, please go to www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/photogallery_15.asp


Image with caption: "Taylor Prize winner 2015 Plum Johnson and Noreen Taylor, founder RBC Taylor Prize - Photo Tom Sandler (CNW Group/RBC Taylor Prize)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150302_C8712_PHOTO_EN_12734.jpg

Image with caption: "2015 RBC Taylor Prize winner Plum Johnson - Photo Tom Sandler (CNW Group/RBC Taylor Prize)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150302_C8712_PHOTO_EN_12735.jpg

SOURCE RBC Taylor Prize

For further information:

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates; Stephen Weir: 416.489.5868 | cell: 416.801.3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com

NEWS Advisory Attention: Arts Editors & Assignment Desks

RBC Taylor Prize to Announce 2014 Winner, Monday, March 10th

Luncheon: 12 noon / Announcement 1:30 p.m.

Why:  One of this year's RBC Taylor Prize finalists will be announced as the 2014 winner of the $25,000 RBC Taylor Prize. The winner will be announced shortly after 1:30pm.

Where: The Omni King Edward Hotel, Sovereign Ballroom,

Main Level, 37 King St. East, Toronto     

Who: Meet 2014 RBC Taylor Prize Finalists:

                  

Charlotte Gray (The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country)

Thomas King (The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America),

J.B. MacKinnon (The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be)                 

Graeme Smith (The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan);David Stouck (Arthur Erickson: An Architect's Life)

Prize Jurors and Foundation Members available for interviews:                 

British-based university professor and literary critic, Coral Ann Howells; Editor, author and professor, James Polk; author, English and creative writing instructor and 2006 Charles Taylor Prize winner, Andrew Westoll; RBC Taylor Prize Founder, Noreen Taylor; Prize Trustee Dr. David Staines

            

Since 2000, this prestigious national book prize has been a driving force behind the growth and recognition of literary non-fiction. Now in its 13th awarding, the Prize celebrates Canada's rich literary heritage, and the exceptional authors who captivate us with their stories. The Prize commemorates the life and work of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists.

With the support of its sponsors, this privately funded 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. The Prize has been awarded annually since 2004.

For more information visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca and follow us at www.twitter.com/taylorprize.

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Media contacts and to confirm attendance, coverage requirements & interviews:

Stephen Weir, (416) 489-5868, cell: (416) 801-3101, Stephen@stephenweir.com

Linda Crane, (416) 727-0112 cranepr@rogers.com  

Four Authors Chosen For This Year's Charles Taylor Prize Short-List

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The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Announces its 2010 Shortlist
TORONTO, Jan. 5 - This morning, at a news conference at Toronto's Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Noreen Taylor, prize founder and chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation, announced that the jury - composed of 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) - read 125 Canadian-authored books, submitted by 34 publishers from across North America. Mrs. Taylor went on to introduce Mr. Cohen who made the following announcement before an audience of publishers, media, and booksellers:
The 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction finalists are:
Ian Brown for The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada.
The jury notes, "In telling the story of his son afficted 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."
John English for Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968 - 2000, published by Knopf Canada.
The jury notes, "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."
Daniel Poliquin for René Lévesque, published by Penguin Canada.
The jury notes, "Daniel Poliquin offers an engaging portrait of René Lévesque: a nation-building hero to some, a nation-destroying villain to others. Richly insightful and deftly written, Poliquin pivots easily from the man and society, his enemies and friends, his victories and defeats, all the while capturing his complexity and conflicts. René Lévesque is a high-octane narrative."
Kenneth Whyte for The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst, published by Random House Canada.
The jury notes: "In masterful prose, Kenneth Whyte recounts the struggle between America's two greatest newspaper publishers, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Based on prodigious research and a deep understanding of late-nineteenth-century newspaper empires, he reveals how these megalomaniac millionaires reshaped the publishing world, capturing the conflict and struggle as they gambled with their fortunes to win readers and drive their enemies into bankruptcy. The Uncrowned King is a page-turner; readers will never look the same way at their daily newspapers."
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 2010 prize finalists will be in Toronto for media days in mid-January and then again from February 6 - 8, 2010. On Sunday, February 7, they will speak about their writing at a special instalment of The Globe and Mail/Ben McNally Books brunch series event. The finalists will be honoured and the winner announced at a Gala Luncheon and Awards Ceremony the following day. Both the Sunday and Monday events will take place at Le Meridien King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto. The prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional and publicity support to help all of the shortlisted books stand out in the national media, bookstores, and libraries.
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.
To Download high-resolution images of the jury, finalists, and shortlisted titles, please go to:
http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/photogallery_10.asp
For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca
Follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/taylorprize
For further information: Media 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

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Cutlines: Top - Noreen Taylor at the podium. Photograph by Dave Tollington
Middle: Author and journalist Andrew Cohen, one of the jurors for the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction joins Prize chair and founder, Noreen Taylor following the announcement of this year's finalists. This year's Shortlist was announced today (Jan. 5) in Toronto. (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction)
Bottom: Duking it out...Noreen Taylor, founder of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is ready for the match between two of this year's finalists. Coincidentally books about political adversaries (Pierre Trudeau and René Lévesque) were among the four shortlisted books. This year's shortlisted authors are: Ian Brown for The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son; John English for Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau; Daniel Poliquin for René Lévesque; and Kenneth Whyte for The Crowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst. The finalists were announced today (Jan. 5) in Toronto. (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction)