King and Shields Talk Water Lilies (and Claude Monet)

ROSS KING DELIVERS THE 2018 RBC Taylor Prize Talk at Toronto International Festival of Authors Sunday October 28th, 2 pm. Brigantine Room, 205 Queens Quay West.

For immediate release – Art historian, Ross King, winner of the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize will discuss his award-winning book, Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet at the Painting of the Water Lilies, with AGO’s Caroline Shields, at the Toronto International Festival of Authors, Sunday October 28th, at 2pm. The book tells the true story of Manet’s iconic paintings at Giverny, widely touted as the last hurrah of Impressionism, and  also discusses Manet’s personal turmoil during WW1 and the last years of his life.  He will discuss this with Caroline Shields, Asst Curator of European Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and a specialist in 19thCentury European Art. Tickets and information are available at www.festivalofauthors.ca. 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.

The World's BEST History Authors in Toronto at IFOA and the Cundill Prize. This Weekend and Monday

 

The World’s Best History Authors Together On Stage

Cundill Prize Finalists to Speak At IFOA Saturday Afternoon!

October 25, 2015  The three finalists for the world’s richest non-fiction book prize – the Cundill – will be on stage together this Saturday afternoon as part of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto.  They will join moderator McGill professor of History, Gil Troy, at 3pm on October 31^st at Harbourfront’s Studio Theatre.

The three finalists appearing are:

•   Sven Beckert – Empire of Cotton: A Global History (Alfred A. Knopf)

•   Susan Pedersen – The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire (Oxford University Press)

•   Bettina Stangneth – Eichmann before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer (Bodley Head)            

Harvard Professor Sven Beckert researches and teaches the history of the United States in the nineteenth century, with a particular emphasis on the history of capitalism, including its economic, social, political and transnational dimensions. The Cundill Prize nominated Empire of Cotton: A Global History, is the first global history of the nineteenth century’s most important commodity. The book won the Bancroft Award, The Philip Taft Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Columbia Professor Susan Pedersen specializes in British history, the British Empire, comparative European history, and international history.  Her nominated book is The Guardians:  The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire and details the League of Nations and its impact on the imperial order. Dr. Pedersen is the lone Canadian in the running for the Cundill Prize.  She was born in Japan (her parents were Canadian missionaries) and has retained her Canadian citizenship.

German philosopher Bettina Strangneth has written a book that debunks the myth that Adolf Eichmann was a banal stooge for Hitler.  Her book Eichmann before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer has been translated into English and has been hailed as the most important historical book about  Eichmann in this century.

Moderator Gil Troy is the author of The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s, published by Thomas Dunne Books. He is a Professor of History at McGill University and a Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington. He writes a regular column in The Daily Beast and The Jerusalem Post.

 The Cundill Prize in Historical Literature at McGill (Cundill Prize) was established in 2008 to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The award is offered each year by McGill University to an individual, of any nationality and from any country, who has published a book determined to have had (or likely to have) a profound literary, social and academic impact in the area of history.

Saturday, October 31, 2015 - 3:00 PM

Author appearance, Round table, Special Event: IFOA

Studio Theatre

235 Queens Quay West

Toronto M5J 2G8

Cost: $18/$15 for supporters/FREE for students & youth

Tickets can be purchased online: https://my.harbourfrontcentre.com/single/SelectSeating.aspx?p=26117, over the phone (416 973 4000) or in person at 235 Queens Quay West.

Bettina Stangneth (top), Sven Beckert (left) and Susan Pedersen (right)

Media Contacts:

 TORONTO:

Stephen Weir & Associates

Stephen@stephenweir.com

416-801-3101 416-489-5868

For more information on the Cundill Prize: www.cundillprize.com

Follow us on Twitter: @CundillPrize

    

Bettina Stangneth (top), Sven Beckert (left) and Susan Pedersen (right)

The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s Gil Troy in Toronto next weekend.

MEDIA ALERT - INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY - THE AGE OF CLINTON - GIL TROY

 

October 26, 2015  McGill professor of History Gil Troy will be in Toronto and available for interviews on Saturday October 31 and Sunday November 1 as he will be moderating an afternoon event at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA).  Prof. Troy has just published a book, The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s.

Prof. Troy will be moderating a panel of the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature finalists at the IFOA on Saturday, October 31, 3pm. http://ifoa.org/events/cundill-prize-in-history The three 2015 finalists for the largest book prize in historical non-fiction will be in conversation about the experience of writing historical non-fiction.

Interview with Gil Troy in the McGill Reporter: http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2015/10/40048/

The Cundill Prize in Historical Literature at McGill (Cundill Prize) was established in 2008 to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The award is offered each year by McGill University to an individual, of any nationality and from any country, who has published a book determined to have had (or likely to have) a profound literary, social and academic impact in the area of history.

Gil Troy is the author of The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s, published by Thomas Dunne Books. He is a Professor of History at McGill University and a Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington. A leading presidential historian, he is the award-winning author of 10 other books, including Moynihan’s Moment: America’s Fight against Zionism as Racism. He writes a regular column in The Daily Beast and The Jerusalem Post and has been widely quoted in the popular press, includingThe New York Times and The Washington Post.

To arrange interviews, contact Prof. Troy directly: giltroy@gmail.com or contact Stephen Weir in toronto at 416-801-30101 stephen@stephenweir.com.

 

  

 

STEPHEN WEIR

RBC Taylor Prize Winner Plum Johnson Stars at IFOA, October 27th. Toronto.

.

Plum Johnson on TVO, March 2015

Plum Johnson, winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for her memoir They Left Us Everything will speak at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) RBC Taylor Prize Spotlight. Joining her in a discussion about public, private and historical grief will be previous RBC Taylor Prize winner and juror Tim Cook and author Asne Seierstad. Journalist Bert Archermoderates.

What: RBC Taylor Prize Spotlight
When: Tuesday, October 27 at 7:30 pm
Where: Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre
Cost: $18/$15 for supporters

Earlier this year, Plum Johnson won the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for They Left Us Everything: A Memoir, published by Penguin Canada. In their citation, the prize jury said:

Beautifully 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…"

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. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support. 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, and Quill & Quire; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and Toronto Public Library.

For further information: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates,Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 | sweir5492@rogers.com; Visit our website at www.rbctaylorprize.ca

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

.

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).

-30-

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