Jessica J. Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese author and environmental historian.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 • Toronto, Ontario: For immediate Release

 Kate Harris Names Jessica J. Lee to the 2019 RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award

With an unwavering commitment to supporting and encouraging emerging Canadian talent, the Charles Taylor Foundation and RBC Wealth Management are pleased to announce that Jessica J. Lee is the sixth recipient of its annual Emerging Writer Award. The London ON born writer, now living in Berlin, was chosen by Kate Harris, winner of the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize for her book Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road. The Prize consists of a $10,000 cash prize and mentorship by Ms. Harris.

RBC Taylor Prize Founder Noreen Taylor commented: “Jessica J. Lee is exactly the kind of writer we envision for the Emerging Author award. A multi-talented young person, Lee is about to break out on several fronts. She is a committed environmental historian who also just happens to be a talented writer and is also encouraging young diverse writers by editing and publishing the Willowherb Review. This award will assist Lee towards completing her multiple projects.”

Vijay Parmar, President of RBC PH&N Investment Counsel added: “On behalf of RBC Wealth Management, congratulations to Jessica J. Lee on being named this year’s RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer Award winner. We can’t wait to see what you do next. We’re incredibly proud to support this Award and the opportunity it offers our country’s rising authors to advance their literary careers.”

Kate Harris noted that Jessica J. Lee is an “uber-talented Canadian author, whose first book, Turning, I deeply admired for its gorgeous mix of memoir and nature/travel writing. It’s about the year she spent swimming a different lake every weekend as a way of moving through heartbreak and depression. I also love the fact that she’s founded a literary magazine, The Willowherb Review, to celebrate and bolster nature writing by emerging and established diverse writers. She’s definitely a nonfiction voice I want to hear more from.”

Lee enthused “I’m completely surprised and honoured that Kate Harris selected me for the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award. Since receiving the news, I’ve felt like a pool of jelly — it means a lot to me that I’ll be joining such a brilliant community of previous winners. The gift of time that an award like this brings is more than I can put into words: this will grant me time to really focus on finishing my next book and working on projects like The Willowherb Review. The opportunity to be in touch with a fellow writer, scholar, and nature-lover like Kate is extraordinary—I’m sure we’ll have quite a lot to talk about over the coming year. I’m so grateful to Kate and the award committee: thank you!”

The RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award was established to provide recognition and assistance to a Canadian published author who is working on a significant writing project, preferably but not limited to the genre of literary non-fiction. Through mentorship from the current RBC Taylor Prize winner and the cash award, it is intended that the recipient will be able to progress toward the creation of a first draft.

Jessica J. Lee

Jessica J. Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese author and environmental historian. She has a BA from University of Kings College, Halifax, an MA from University of London, and a PhD in Environmental History and Aesthetics from York University in Toronto. Her first book, Turning, was published in 2017. She has lived in Berlin since 2014, where she is Writer-in-Residence at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology.

Kate Harris has written for The Walrus, Canadian Geographic, and The Georgia Review, among other publications. A Rhodes scholar (Oxford — History of Science) with degrees from MIT and UNC Chapel Hill, she was named one of Canada’s top modern-day explorers and has won several awards for her nonfiction writing. She lives off-grid in a log cabin in Atlin, BC. Lands of Lost Borders is her first book.

Kate Harris won the Taylor Prize - photo Sandler

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 33 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.‎

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.

About the RBC Taylor Prize

Established in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation and first awarded in 2000, the RBC Taylor Prize 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. All finalists receive $5,000, and the winner receives a further $25,000. All authors are presented with a custom leather bound version of their shortlisted book at the awards ceremony. All finalists receive promotional support for their nominated titles.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Vijay Parmar, David Staines, Edward Taylor, Nadina Taylor, and Noreen Taylor. The Prize Manager is Sheila Kay.

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates

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

For general information about the Prize please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca
Follow the RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize
Like the RBC Taylor Prize on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize

To download a high-resolution image of the recipient of the 2019 RBC Taylor

Emerging Writer Award, please go to:
www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2019/hr_images/2019_rbctpew_jessica_lee_hr_cred_paul_capewell.jpg

Canadian Manda Group, Baker & Taylor sign on with Sutherland

Sutherland House announces sales and distribution agreements in Canada and USA

(Toronto) Sutherland House, Canada’s newest publisher of quality non-fiction, is pleased to announce its sales and distribution agreements in Canada and the United States.

Domestically, Sutherland House will be distributed by the University of Toronto Press. The press’s exclusive sales agent in Canada will be Canadian Manda Group. Founded in 1977, Manda has offices in every region of the country and one of the largest sales forces anywhere in North America.

“Canadian Manda is very excited to begin working for Ken Whyte and Sutherland House,” says Carey Low, vice-president and partner at Manda. “We are proud play a part in bringing to market books that will enrich the dialog around timely and important conversations, and look forward to many bestselling books in the years to come.”

In the United States, Sutherland House will be represented for distribution and sales by Baker & Taylor, a premier publishing services agency founded in 1828.

“We are pleased to be representing Sutherland House,” says Mark Suchomel, senior vice-president. “This small publisher stands out among thousands of others due to the high level of sophistication and sharp instincts of Ken Whyte. Like Ken, the list is smart and focused and a great addition to the book industry.”

Says Kenneth Whyte, publisher and editor of Sutherland House, “We are most appreciative of the support and enthusiasm of UTP, Manda, and Baker & Taylor. To reach sales and distribution agreements with these pillars of the industry simply on the strength of our list, without having produced any sales figures yet, is gratifying. We have put a lot of work into our list.”

Sutherland House, based in Toronto, will release eight books in 2019. It is accepting proposals and manuscripts from writers everywhere.

http://sutherlandhousebooks.com

For more information contact:

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com
109 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto, ON
CANADA. M4R 1G5
Tel: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101
www.stephenweir.com twitter: sweirsweir

Canada's Most Prestigious Prize for Literary Non-Fiction gathers industry for important announcement

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Canada's Most Prestigious Prize for Literary Non-Fiction gathers industry for important announcement

TORONTO, Dec. 25, 2016 /CNW/  

2017 RBC Taylor Longlist nominees

Who: Noreen Taylor, chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation and Prize founder

Presenting Sponsor Vijay Parmar, president of RBC PH&N Investment Counsel, Jurors John English, Ann MacMillan, and Colin McAdam

What: RBC Taylor Prize Shortlist Announcement Event

Why: To hear the names of the shortlist and celebrate all 12 books on the RBC Taylor Prize longlist

When: Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 10:00 am sharp

Where: The Omni King Edward Hotel, Main Level Consort Bar, 37 King Street East, downtown Toronto

2017 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist:

• Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD by Romeo Dallaire, published by Random House Canada
• By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz by Max Eisen, published by HarperCollins Canada
• Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War by Matti Friedman, published by Algonquin Books
• An Intimate Wilderness: Arctic Voices in a Land of Vast Horizons by Norman Hallendy, published by Greystone Books
• Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of Water Lilies by Ross King, published by Bond Street Books
• The Killer Whale Who Changed the World by Mark Leiren-Young, published by Greystone Books
• Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World by Marc Raboy, published by Oxford University Press
• Quinn: The Life of a Hockey Legend, published by Viking
• This Is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison, and Other Complications by Diane Schoemperlen, published by HarperCollins Canada
• Wait Time: A Memoir of Cancer by Kenneth Sherman, published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve by Alexandra Shimo, published by Dundurn Press
• A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905 by Bill Waiser, published by Fifth House Books

The RBC Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates.

Key Dates: The RBC Taylor Prize Shortlist will be announced at a news conference on Wednesday, January 11 and the winner revealed at a gala luncheon on Monday, March 6, 2017.

About The RBC Taylor Prize: Established biennially in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation, 2017 marks the sixteenth 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 $25,000 for the winner and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries. All authors are presented with a custom leather bound version of their shortlisted book at the awards ceremony.

Rosemary Sullivan won the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize for her book Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, published by HarperCollins Publishers. Ms Sullivan selected Adnan Khan as the third recipient of the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer Award, which was established in 2013 to provide recognition and assistance to a Canadian published author who is working on a significant writing project in literary non-fiction.

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, CNW Group, The Huffington Post Canada, Maclean's magazine, Quill & Quire magazine, and SiriusXM; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Public Library Board.

SOURCE RBC Taylor Prize

CONTACT: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com

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

Mainstream and Social Media invited to attend the Short List press Conference

PRESS CONFERENCE  WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14, 2015 - RBC TAYLOR SHORTLIST The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation  request the honour of your presence at a  news conference to announce the finalists for The 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Wednesday, January 14, 2015 10 a.m. sharp Consort Bar • Main Level Omni King Edward Hotel 37 King Street East Toronto, Ontario (view on map) MEDIA CONTACT: STEPHEN WEIR & ASSOCIATES: Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 or 416-801-3101 stephen@stephenweir.com TO RSVP:  rsvp@rbctaylorprize.ca add to iCal

Deciding on a location - It is a Presser dark art!

..... NEVER IN A MEAT MARKET!

The Honourable Hilary Mary Weston at the podium - downtown Loblaws

 By Stephen Weir
(from a Huffington Post Blog by the author)

I have done it in a plane. Once on a train. There was that time amongst Cuba's sugar cane. Always too often in the rain, and even yes, in Spain (well a Spanish restaurant). I have never organised or attended one held in a meat market .... until today. I am rhyming 'bout the kick-off Press Conference - the bread-and-butter event of any PR campaign.
In the dark arts of organising successful press conferences, often one of the trickiest, most over-thought and criticised decisions is where you are going to actually stage the presser.  In a hotel ballroom? In a theatre? In a park? At City Hall?
Locating where you hold a briefing for the media is considered a make-or-break decision for an expensive launch. A great location doesn't guarantee good coverage, however, a poor location will hinder the media turn-out.
You want to be easily accessible to the major media outlets. There has to be parking.  If it is a BIG news story it is a must to have room out front for a couple TV sat trucks (whether they show up or not is a different issue).  You have to be sure that the media's cars and trucks won't get towed.
The endless list continues. There has to be free Wifi for social media. There should be public transit close by, and, most importantly, the location has to be media neutral -- you never ever want to hold a presser in the parking lot of CTV headquarters and expect the CBC to show up!
What about holding it in a grocery store in a space between a counter dishing out stinky gorganzola and head cheese and the dash-and-go prepared egg salad sandwich bar?  Would you have a former Lieutenant Governor and a UK "Lady" announce a literary prize while shoppers try to navigate their carts past newspaper scribes, TV crews and radio reporters.  My answer would be  NO. Never. Too Risky.
But, I would be wrong.  This morning I attended the Hilary Weston Prize  Non-Fiction Shortlist announcement that was held at the downtown Toronto Loblaws store (the old Maple Leaf Gardens) in the aisle between the deli counter and the pre-made lunch item coolers.  
The Writer's Trust annual non-fiction award now bears the name and the patronage of the former Lieutenant Governor.  Hilary and her husband Galen Weston, along with Baroness Black of Crossharbour (Barbara Amiel), were the three "big name draws" at the morning presser.  I wager none of them would ever be spotted bellying up to the Meat Counter and ordering a pound of ground but today they were happy to share the aisles with downtown shoppers.
Loblaws, owned by the Weston family, has also come on board big time helping to sponsor the large annual Canadian non-fiction book prize. They wanted to show the media how they would soon be putting the five books on this morning's shortlist into grocery stores across the nation.  Juxtaposing the wealth of one of Canada's richest families with every-day people queueing up to buy grub, effectively brought home the message that for most Canadian authors, writing a non-fiction book is a hand-to-mouth experience.  Winning this particular prize will give one starving author the ability to move from the wieners 'n' beans shelf to crackers and foie gras in Aisle Five.
Back to the actual press conference, the set-up team put in a sound system and stage that easily overcame the noise and sight line problems one might expect in a meat market! This is the second year that the event has been held at Loblaws and the number of media covering the shortlist announcement has mushroomed  - oops, wrong food reference since this morning's press conference location decision was a long way away from the veggies, fruits and nuts!

LONGLIST, LONG TIME COMING - CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE ON MONDAY

The Charles Taylor Prize For Literary Non-Fiction To Announce Its First Longlist On Monday Morning 

TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2011 /CNW/ - The  Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction jury will announce on Monday, December 12th, its longlist of book titles.  This is the first time that the annual prize will be issuing the names of the authors now in contention for the 2012 Prize. The 2012 Prize Jury members are Allan M. Brandt, Stevie Cameron, and Susan Renouf.

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 longlist will be issued at 8am Monday, December 12th by CNW. The 2012 prize shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, January 10 and the winner on Tuesday, March 5, at events to be held in downtown Toronto. The prize website is: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

For further information: Stephen Weir
Charles Taylor Prize Publicist | stephen@stephenweir.com
or sweir5492@rogers.com
2482 Yonge Street, Unit 45032, Toronto, ONT.
CANADA. M4P 3E3
Tel: 416-489-5868 | Fax: 416-488-6518
www.stephenweir.com www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca