RBC Taylor Prize Announces the 2015 Non-Fiction Longlist

Ben McNally (l), the owner of Toronto's famed Ben McNally Bookstore, rings in a dozen books for Noreen Taylor, the founder of the RBC Taylor Prize and Vijay Parmar (r), President, PH&N Investment Counsel, RBC Wealth Management, and a Prize trustee look at  the dozen non-fiction books that have been named to the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist

Compilation of twelve literary non-fiction titles includes two previous Taylor Prize winning authors

Noreen Taylor, chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation and founder of the RBC Taylor Prize today announced the Longlist for 2015. Founded in 1998, the RBC Taylor Prize is Canada’s most prestigious award for literary non-fiction. This year’s jurors, Ms. Kevin Garland, Martin Levin, and Andrew Preston, reviewed and debated the merits of 118 submissions from Canadian authors. The following twelve longlisted books are undergoing further scrutiny as the jurors work toward finalizing the 2015 Shortlist, scheduled for release at a press conference on Wednesday, January 14th, 2015 at the Omni King Edward Hotel. The winner announcement will be made on March 2nd also at the Omni King Edward Hotel.

“The 2015 Longlist illustrates the amazing growth and maturation of the genre of literary non-fiction in this country,” explains Mrs. Taylor, “The dozen authors whose works our jury has chosen have written books that clearly demonstrate Canada’s expanded interest in ALL matters that effect the Global Village. Be they resident here in Canada, or the UK or Europe, our treasured authors articulate with a shared Canadian vision. The RBC Taylor Prize sees the release of this Longlist, at the height of the holiday gift giving season, as an opportunity for readers to familiarize themselves with that unique Canadian voice.”

The 2014 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist:

1.            The Necessary War, Volume One by TIM COOK (Ottawa, Ontario), published by Penguin Canada

2.            The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We’ve Lost in a World of Constant Connection by MICHAEL HARRIS (Toronto, Ontario), published by HarperCollins Canada

3.            They Left Us Everything by PLUM JOHNSON (Toronto, Ontario), published by Penguin Canada

4.            This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by NAOMI KLEIN (Toronto, Ontario), published by Knopf Canada

5.            Berlin: Imagine a City by RORY MacLEAN (London, England), published by Hachette Book Group Canada

6.            Happy City by CHARLES MONTGOMERY (Vancouver, British Columbia), published by DOUBLEDAY Canada

7.            One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada’s Tragedy at Dieppe by DAVID O’KEEFE (Montreal, Quebec), published by Random House Canada

8.            Warsaw 1944: Hitler, Himmler, and the Warsaw Uprising by ALEXANDRA RICHIE (Warsaw, Poland), published by HarperCollins Canada

9.            Puckstruck: Distracted, Delighted and Distressed by Canada’s Hockey Obsession by STEPHEN SMITH (Toronto, Ontario), published by Greystone Books

10.            The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in our Times by BARBARA TAYLOR (London, England), published by Hamish Hamilton Canada

11.            And Home Was Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa by M. G. VASSANJI (Toronto, Ontario), published by Doubleday Canada

12.            Boundless by KATHLEEN WINTER (Montreal, Quebec), published by House of Anansi Press

There are two Longlisted authors with previous affiliations with the Prize this year; they are Dr. Tim Cook and Charles Montgomery. Tim Cook won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting The Great War, 1917-1918. His Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King and Canada’s World Wars was a finalist for the 2013 Prize and he served as a juror in 2010. Charles Montgomery won the 2005 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia.

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 Prize has established the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer’s Award, which provides $10,000 to an emerging author. The RBC Taylor Prize winner chooses the emerging author each new Prize cycle.

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 Authors at Harbourfront Centre, Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Kobo Inc., and The Omni King Edward Hotel.

To download high-resolution images of these titles please go to:

www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/longlist_15.asp

For more information please visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca

Visit RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize

— 30 —

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates

Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 | sweir5492@rogers.com

Noreen Taylor and Vijay Parmar enjoy the 12 non-fiction titles that are on the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist. Standing in front of a table covered with the nominated books  Ms. Taylor, the founder of the RBC Taylor Prize, looks at hard copy copies while Prize trustee and  President, PH&N Investment Counsel, RBC Wealth Management, Vijay Parmar uses a new Kobo to read the same books electronically. The picture was taken inside the downtown Toronto Ben McNally Bookstore on Bay Street.


Ben McNally, Noreen Taylor and Vijay Parmar and the Longlist

Ben McNally (l), the owner of Toronto's famed Ben McNally Bookstore, Noreen Taylor, the founder of the RBC Taylor Prize and Vijay Parmar (r), President, PH&N Investment Counsel, RBC Wealth Management, and a Prize trustee look at  the dozen non-fiction books that have been named to the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist

Below: Ben McNally (l), the owner of Toronto's famed Ben McNally Bookstore, Noreen Taylor, the founder of the RBC Taylor Prize and Vijay Parmar (r), President, PH&N Investment Counsel, RBC Wealth Management, and a Prize trustee look at  the dozen non-fiction books that have been named to the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist.  The picture was taken inside the downtown Toronto Ben McNally Bookstore on Bay Street.

The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Announces 2012 Shortlist

Noreen Taylor,  chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation announced on Tuesday the five finalists for this year's book prize. The shortlist announcement was made in the Toronto headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada. Above Noreen Taylor and Vijay Parmar, RBC vice-president, hold the nominated books.  Photo by Tom Sandler

YouTube Video of event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV8srJKmkAQ

 Five authors in the running for this year's non-fiction Prize

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - This morning, Noreen Taylor, chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation and founder of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, announced that the 2012 prize jury, composed of authors Allan M. Brandt and Stevie Cameron and non-fiction publishing consultant Susan Renouf, read 115 books, submitted by 35 publishers from around the world. Mrs. Taylor went on to introduce Ms Cameron and Ms Renouf, who announced the 2012 prize shortlist, as follows:

The Finalists for the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Are:

Wade Davis for Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada

The jury notes: "In this monumental volume, Wade Davis narrates explorer George Mallory's heroic attempt to scale Everest following the Great War. With remarkable new research in previously unexplored British archives and in the Himalayas, Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest powerfully links the devastating carnage and demoralization of the War to the transcendent aspiration of Mallory and his compatriots to ascend Everest. With skill and insight, Davis explores the meaning of this valorous yet tragic climb for post-war Britain and the world."

Charlotte Gill for Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe, published by Greystone Books

The jury notes: "Only a writer as skilled as Charlotte Gill could make the back-breaking work of planting more than a million seedlings sound like one of life's essential adventures. In a carefully balanced story of science, business and friendship, and one that is surprisingly unsentimental, Gill shares her love for Canada's boreal forests, the tragedy of their disappearances and the grueling work involved in replacing them. Reader, you might finish this book feeling relieved you don't plant trees - but you will be wishing you could."

JJ Lee for The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, published by McClelland & Stewart

The jury notes: "As an experienced radio current affairs producer, JJ Lee knew what it took to make a good story though he never expected his own life to end up in a book. The Measure of a Man, Lee's account of trying to remake one of his late father's old suits into one for himself, began as a CBC Radio documentary. An editor suggested it would make a good book. She was right. Beautifully crafted, Lee's memoir is a heartbreaking page-turner about a family, an abusive father, and men's fashion. Who could have thought these themes could work together? In his first book, Lee has shown us how."

Madeline Sonik for Afflictions & Departures: Essays, published by Anvil Press

The jury notes: "Startlingly original, Madeline Sonik's moving story of her childhood defies all our expectations of memoir. She captures crystalline moments of childhood memory and links them in a daisy-chain with corresponding events of the tumultuous societal change taking place outside her home. It is North America in the 1960s and 70s and her letter-perfect, child's-eye view of the world brings back that time with such intensity that the reader can almost smell and taste it. Droll, tragic, and absolutely compelling, Afflictions and Departures is a visceral portrayal of a family imploding."

Andrew Westoll for The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery, published by HarperCollins Publishers

The jury notes: "Brilliantly blending science and storytelling, primatologist and author Andrew Westoll takes us deep into the world of the haunted and haunting rescued research chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. Pulled from decades of horrific lab conditions, rescued chimps live out the balance of their long lives in sanctuaries such as Fauna, cared for and loved by an extraordinary group of people. Westoll deftly draws the reader into the wild day-to-day ride of life with the Fauna chimps and soon their Otherness falls away. Through his lens, the chimps are revealed as the individuals they are, with all their foibles, damage, and possibility - and the reader's world view shifts on its axis. Heartrending and heart-warming, this is a stunning and important work of art and documentary and science."

The prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. 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. 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 prize consists of $25,000 for the winning author and $2,000 for the runners-up, in addition to extensive promotion and publicity to help all books stand out in the national media, bookstores, and libraries.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montreal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). They established The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction to commemorate 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 jurors for The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are Allan M. Brandt, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, award-winning author Stevie Cameron, and well-respected editor and consultant Susan Renouf. Full biographies of the jurors can be found here: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/jury_12.asp

The 2012 prize finalists will speak at Ben McNally's Authors Brunch on Sunday, March 4, 2012. For tickets, please visit www.benmcnallybooks.com. The prize winner will be announced at a Gala Luncheon and Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 5 at Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The winner will be featured at the International Festival of Authors in October, 2012.

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 Windfields Farm; the Media Sponsors are CNW Group, CBC Books, The Globe and Mail, Maclean's magazine and Quill & Quire magazine; and the In-Kind Sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Indigo Books and Music, Kobo Inc., The International Festival of Authors, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Review of Books.

To download high-resolution images of the jury, finalists, and shortlisted titles, please go to: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/photogallery_12.asp

For information on the authors and their shortlisted titles, click on or key in the publishers' website addresses noted below each book.

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis, published by Knopf Canada
http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307944108

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill, published by Greystone Books
http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/eating-dirt

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by J. J. Lee, published by McClelland & Stewart
http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771046476

Afflictions and Departures: Essays by Madeline Sonik, published by Anvil Press
http://www.anvilpress.com/Books/afflictions-departures

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll, published by HarperCollins
http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/The-Chimps-of-Fauna-Sanctuary-Andrew-Westoll?isbn=9781554686490&HCHP+TB_The+Chimps+of+Fauna+Sanctuary

For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

follow us at www.twitter.com/taylorprize

Just In Time For Christmas - 11 top non-fiction books on Prize Longlist

 CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE FOR LITERARY NON-FICTION ANNOUNCES FIRST LONGLIST FOR THE 2012 ANNUAL PRIZE

In response to the large number of publishers' submissions that are received each year and the opportunity to promote the best of these books in the all-important Christmas bookselling season, the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation have decided to make public the books that are still under consideration by the 2012 prize jury. Thirty-five publishers from across North America and around the world have submitted 115 titles this year. Today, jurors Allan M. Brandt, Stevie Cameron, and Susan Renouf announced the first longlist ever issued for The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. 
The longlisted titles are:

1. Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre, published by Douglas & McIntyre
2. Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis, published by Knopf Canada
3. The Patrol: Seven Days in the Life of a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan by Ryan Flavelle, published by HarperCollins
4. Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill, published by Greystone Books
5. Nation Maker: Sir John A. MacDonald: His Life, Our Times Volume Two: 1867 - 1891 by Richard Gwyn, published by Random House Canada
6. The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by J. J. Lee, published by McClelland & Stewart
7. Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life by David Adams Richards, published by Doubleday Canada
8. Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live by Ray Robertson, published by Biblioasis
9. Afflictions and Departures: Essays by Madeline Sonik, published by Anvil Press
10. The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll, published by HarperCollins
11. Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism by Joel Yanofsky, published by Viking Canada

Prize Founder Noreen Taylor commented: "Last year, at our 10th anniversary, the jury informed us that there were so many additional titles so close to being named to the shortlist that we realized it was time to issue a longlist. Now, as I look at the longlisted titles, it is clear that it was the right decision. Our jury has sorted through the 115 submissions and selected a longlist that is diverse in subject and treatment. Having already read a number of these books, I know that the jury has lived up to our mandate. They have Recognized Excellence."
The jurors for The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are Allan M. Brandt, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, award-winning author Stevie Cameron, and well-respected editor and consultant Susan Renouf. Full biographies of the jurors can be found here: http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/jury_12.asp 
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montreal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). They established The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction to commemorate 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 for Literary Non-Fiction 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 remaining finalists. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support.
The Charles Taylor Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of its partners: RBC Wealth Management (Presenting Sponsor); Windfields Farm (Major Sponsor); CBC Books, CNW Group, Quill & Quire, and The Globe and Mail (Media Sponsors); and Ben McNally Books, Indigo Books and Music, the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), and Kobo Inc. (In-Kind Sponsors).
The 2012 prize shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 and the winner on Monday, March 5, 2012 at events to be held in downtown Toronto.
For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca
and follow us at www.twitter.com/taylorprize
To download high resolution images of the jury, visit:
www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2012/photogallery_12.asp