Monday the big day for non-fiction books in Canada

The Governor General of Canada and Mrs. Sharon Johnston to attend The 2013 Charles Taylor Prize Announcement Ceremony Monday, March 4, 2013/

Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston will attend The 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Award ceremony, in Toronto.

The prize will be awarded by Prize founder Noreen Taylor on Monday, March 4, 2013 at a gala luncheon and awards ceremony at the famed The King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto. Media and cameras are welcome at the celebration of the finalists and winner announcement.

The awards ceremony will begin at 1:45 pm EST and will end at 2:15 pm following the announcement of the winner. All five authors will be in attendance.

The Charles Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. The Prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists. This year there are five authors on the prize shortlist. Two of the authors, Ross King and Andrew Preston, were born in Canada but now live in England, Sandra Djwa lives in Vancouver, Tim Cook lives in Ottawa, and Carol Bishop-Gwyn lives in Toronto.

The Finalists of The 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are:

Carol Bishop-Gwyn (Toronto) for The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca published by Cormorant Books

Tim Cook (Ottawa) for Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada's World Wars published by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Canada

Sandra Djwa (Vancouver) for Journey with No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page published by McGill-Queen's University Press

Ross King (Oxford, England) for Leonardo and The Last Supper published by Bond Street Books, an imprint of Doubleday Canada

Andrew Preston (Massachusetts) for Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada

The Charles Taylor Prize celebrates Canada's best literary voices, recognizing the exceptional authors who captivate us with their superb command of the English language, elegance of style and subtlety of thought and perception.

This marks the twelfth awarding of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. The prize was originally awarded every two years, but due to an ever-increasing number of submissions, since 2004 the prize has been presented annually. It 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 non-fiction.

The jurors for The 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are television executive Susanne Boyce, along with award-winning authors Richard Gwyn and Joseph Kertes, who also founded the Humber College's distinguished creative writing and comedy programs. Full biographies of the jurors can be found at: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2013/jury_13.asp

The trustees of The Charles Taylor Foundation gratefully acknowledge the support of their partners. The Presenting Sponsor of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is RBC Wealth Management; the Major Sponsor is Metropia. The exclusive newspaper sponsor is The Globe and Mail and the Media Sponsors are Canada Newswire (CNW) Group, CBC Books and CBC Radio One, Maclean's Magazine, The Huffington Post Canada and Quill & Quire magazine. The In-Kind Sponsors are Authors at Harbourfront Centre (IFOA), Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Indigo Books and Music, The King Edward Hotel, and Kobo Inc., For further prize information visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

Photos: To download high-resolution images of the jury, finalists, and shortlisted titles, please go to: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2013/PHOTOGALLERY_13.asp For more information: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca
SOURCE: Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

For further information: Issued by/Media contact : Stephen Weir & Associates
Stephen Weir: Direct: 416.489.5868 | mobile: 416.801.3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com
Linda Crane: Direct: 905.257.6033 | mobile: 416.727.0112 | cranepr@cogeco.ca
*Media planning to attend and cover must register via Stephen Weir & Associates (use mobile only on March 5)

- See more at: http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/tag/andrew-preston/#sthash.iO8S8qbI.dpuf

Charles Taylor Prize Authors on Stage at Harbourfront with Kenneth Whyte

ALL FIVE CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE FINALISTS IN CONVERSATION
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Get to know the authors behind the books shortlisted for the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction at an unforgettable evening hosted by Kenneth Whyte, president of Rogers Publishing and presented by Authors at Harbourfront Centre and Maclean’s magazine.

Moderator David Staines engages each author to reveal the stories behind their books and their writing process.

·      Carol Bishop-Gwyn talks about The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca

·      Tim Cook talks about Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada’s World Wars

·      Sandra Djwa talks about Journey with No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page

·      Ross King talks about Leonardo and The Last Supper and

·      Andrew Preston talks about Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy

ONE EVENING – FIVE REMARKABLE AUTHORS – Wednesday, February 27^th – 7:30 pm

Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay West

For tickets: http://www.readings.org/?q=weekly/ctp

The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is presented by RBC Wealth Management and commemorates the life and work of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada’s foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community. Charles Taylor was a foreign correspondent with The Globe and Mail and the author of four books: Radical Tories; Reporter in Red China; Six Journeys: A Canadian Pattern; and Snow Job.

The Charles Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. It 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. For more information: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca and on Twitter @taylorprize. 

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Media contact: Stephen Weir  & Associates

Stephen Weir: Direct: 416.489.5868 | Cell: 416-801-3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com

Biography of Carol Bishop-Gwyn - shortlisted author for this year's Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

 

Carol Bishop-Gwyn

(This is an updated biography for Carol Bishop-Gwn - it is more detailed than what we used in the Prize press kit )

“Ballet enthralled me as a little girl, but it soon became apparent that I lacked the ‘right stuff’ to become a ballerina.

I became a spectator with my parents, who brought me to performances of The National Ballet of Canada. My most vivid memory from those years is of watching Margot Fonteyn with London’s Royal Ballet perform on a stage that had been constructed overtop of the ice rink  at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. My parents and I were sat way back in the greys watching little stick figures. Nonetheless, I was mesmerized.

As an adult, I switched my allegiance to contemporary dance – early modern western theatrical dance, to retreat into academic speak.  While taking a dance survey course at Harvard University, I discovered a pioneer of modern dance, the Canadian-born Maud Allan, who in her day was just as famous as Isadora Duncan. She served me splendidly as the basis for my post-graduate degrees in Fine Arts: Dance History. 

For several years, I lived in Moscow and then London, where my love of the ballet was rekindled.

Back in Toronto in 1992, I was once again in the audience at National Ballet of Canada performances. Occasionally I brought my teenage son, bribing him with a dinner at Shopsy’s before crossing the road to the O’Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre). One night on the drive home after one of those rare transformative performances of Romeo and Juliet, he turned to me and said, ‘If you tell anyone that I really liked that ballet, I’ll never talk to you again.’ It’s too good a story to hide forever; my adult son and I are still talking.

As I explain in the introduction to my book, Celia Franca as a topic dropped into my lap, and so I felt it was meant to be. There were times during the writing of the book when I wondered if Celia was out there stirring things up. Sitting with friends one day, a bird I’d never seen before landed close by in a bush. I was told it was a cowbird. Recently someone had compared Celia Franca to a cowbird.  Was that bird watching me?”

Carol Bishop-Gwyn is a writer and dance historian. She has taught courses at York University, Ryerson University, and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Bishop-Gwyn has worked as a broadcaster and producer for CBC National Radio and as a freelance magazine writer.