RBC Taylor Prize About To Hit The Toronto Airwaves

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NEWSTALK 1010 presents the third in a three part series:

“In Conversation with the RBC Taylor Prize Finalists”

Interview with 2014 RBC Taylor Prize winner, Thomas King airs this Saturday, March 15th on 6:00 pm program

TORONTO: March 14, 2014: A feature interview with Thomas King, who this week won the prestigious $25,000 RBC Taylor Prize, will air on NEWSTALK 1010 this Saturday, March 15th at 6:30 pm.  The author of “The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America” will talk candidly with host and Toronto communications specialist, Stephen Weir. 

Stephen Weir

Mr. King, a former radio comedian (Dead Dog Café), talks with wit and humour, about how the history of Native people that Canadians studied in school and saw in film and on television is not the history “Indians” know.  He tells listeners it is time we all got over the Tonto and Iron Eyes Cody archetypes and saw the history of our indigenous peoples the way it really happened.

Thomas King

Thomas King has written a book which Prize jurors, Coral Ann Howells; James Polk; and Andrew Westoll found: “subversive, entertaining, well-researched, hilarious, enraging, and finally as hopeful as this very personal take on our long relationship with the “inconvenient” Indian.  King dissects myths (noble Hiawatha, servile Tonto, the Sixties nature guru) against the tragic backdrop of real Indians abused in mission schools, penned together on reserves, and bludgeoned by vicious or ham-fisted government policies. A sharp, informed eye is cast on Riel, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull, on the dark and tangled stories of Native land claims, on Alcatraz, Will Rogers (a Cherokee), and the maid on Land o’ Lakes butter; on Batoche, on Wounded Knee. In this thoughtful, irascible account, and in characteristically tricksterish mode, King presents a provocative alternative version of Canada’s heritage narrative.”

 

Ben McNally

The first interview on this Saturday’s program will air at 6 pm with RBC Taylor Prize Finalist, David Stouck.  Host Ben McNally of Toronto’s Ben McNally Books, will talk to the author about his short listed book, “Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life”.  The interview with the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize winner, Thomas King will follow.

David Stouck

This is the third year NEWSTALK 1010 has presented its series, “In Conversation with the RBC Taylor Finalists”.  In previous years, the show aired as “In Conversation with The Charles Taylor Prize Finalists”.  Each year, all finalists for the Prize come to Toronto to be interviewed. The series runs for three weekends leading up to and following the RBC Taylor Prize winner announcement.

 This weekend’s hour long show is the final segment. The three-part “In Conversation with the RBC Taylor Prize Finalists” can be heard on podcast here: http://www.newstalk1010.com/feature/charlestaylorprize/  

For information on the RBC Taylor Prize visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

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For further information about the RBC Taylor Prize:

Media contact:

RBC Taylor Prize publicist

Linda Crane: 416-727-0112 | cranepr@rogers.com

The International Festival of Authors featuring the authors nominated for the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize

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IFOA TO PRESENT AN EVENING OF LITERARY NON-FICTION WITH THE SHORTLISTED RBC TAYLOR PRIZE AUTHORS ON MARCH 7

The International Festival of Authors’ 40^th season continues in March with an event featuring the authors nominated for the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize.

All five finalists for this year’s RBC Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction will take the stage at Harbourfront Centre for a lively panel discussion. Join 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), and David Stouck (Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life) for an event like no other.

This panel discussion is supported by Maclean’s Magazine. It will take place at 7:30pm in the York Quay Centre along the waterfront (235 Queens Quay West). Tickets are $10 to the general public, FREE for supporters of the IFOA, students and youth 25 and under with ID. 

Media interested in covering this event should contact Stephen Weir at stephen@stephenweir.com

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. The winner of this year's $25,000 prize will be announced Monday, March 10.

The RBC Taylor Prize was founded to commemorate the life 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 Trustees of the Charles Taylor Prize Foundation are Michael Bradley ( Toronto ), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor ( Toronto ). The Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of RBC Wealth Management as its presenting sponsor, along with its major sponsor Metropia, and greatly appreciates the support of its media sponsors CNW Group,

The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s Magazine,  The Huffington Post Canada, Global Television, Quill & Quire Magazine, and CBC.CA, and its in-kind sponsors IFOA, Ben McNally Books, Event Source, and The Omni King Edward Hotel.

Since its inception in 1974, IFOA has hosted over 8,500 authors from more than 100 countries, including over 20 Nobel Laureates. Their season runs from September to June and includes the annual International Festival of Authors (October 23–November 2, 2014), including Young IFOA and IFOA Ontario, and the annual ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers with Forest of Reading® Festival of Trees™ (May 14–15, 2014).

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For further information, please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

Follow the Prize on Twitter: @taylorprize 

Follow IFOA on Twitter: @IFOA

Join IFOA on Facebook: IFOA: International Festival of Authors

Visit IFOA online: ifoa.org

To download high-resolution images related to the 2014 prize, please visit:www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2014/photogallery_14.asp

Issued by/Media Contact:

Stephen Weir & Associates, Publicists, RBC Taylor Prize

Stephen Weir: Direct: 416.489.5868 | cell: 416.801.3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com

Linda Crane: Direct: 416.727.0112 | cranepr@rogers.com

IFOA Media Contact:

Maeve O’Regan: moregan@ifoa.org; 416-973-5836