Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

The nominees are
On the Farm: Robert Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women by Stevie Cameron (Knopf Canada)
The biggest, longest and most expensive investigation in Canadian history is recounted by pre-eminent investigative journalist Cameron, who spent eight years working on the file.

Mordecai: The Life and Times by Charles Foran (Knopf Canada)
Himself a seasoned journalist and novelist, Foran has delivered a lively and definitive biography of Mordecai Richler, a great Canadian man of letters.

Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven by Ross King (Douglas and McIntyre)
A comprehensive examination of the Group of Seven (and Tom Thomson,) their work, and the prevailing cultural atmosphere in which they practiced and honed their craft.

The Geography of Arrival: A Memoir by George Sipos (Gaspereau Press)
Sipos recounts the experiences of his family in London Ontario, where they arrived in 1957 after emigrating from Hungary.

Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das by Merrily Weisbord (McGill-Queen’s University Press)
A chronicle of a most unexpected friendship between a Canadian filmmaker and one of India’s most controversial literary figure

The winner will be announced on Feb. 15.

The winner is

Mordecai: The Life and Times by Charles Foran (Knopf Canada)

Bit late

These five titles were unveiled to be the shortist for the eleventh Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A True Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll (winner)

Afflictions and Departures by Madeline Sonik
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
Into the Silence by Wade Davis
The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by J.J. Lee

The Charles Taylor finalists are :

Carol Bishop-Gwyn, author of The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca, published by Cormorant Books;
Tim Cook, author of Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada’s World Wars, published by Allen Lane;
Sandra Djwa, author of Journey with No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press;
Ross King, author of Leonardo and The Last Supper, published by Bond Street Books;
Andrew Preston for Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy, published by Knopf Canada

SHORTLIST
FOR THE
2013 PRIZE
ANNOUNCED
Wednesday,
January 9,
2013

2013 WINNER ANNOUNCED
Monday, March 4, 2013

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

March 10 2014

Author Thomas King was named the winner of The 2014 RBC Taylor Prize for his book The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America.

The other finalists were Charlotte Gray, author of The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country; J.B. MacKinnon, author of The Once and Future World: Nature As it Was, As it Is, As it Could Be; Graeme Smith, author of The Dogs are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan; and David Stouck, author of Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life.

AT A LUNCHEON CEREMONY held on Monday, March 2, 2015 in the Sovereign Ballroom of downtown Toronto’s Omni King Edward Hotel, author Plum Johnson was named the winner of The 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for her book They Left Us Everything. The remaining nominees each received a $2,000 honorarium.
The other finalists were; David O’Keefe author of One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada’s Tragedy at Dieppe; Barbara Taylor author of The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in our Times; M. G. Vassanji author of And Home Was Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa; and Kathleen Winter author of Boundless.

From the RBC TAYLOR PRIZE web site

AT A NEWS CONFERENCE HELD ON Wednesday, January 13th, jurors Susanne Boyce, Joseph Kertes, and Stephen J. Toope, shortlisted five finalists for the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize. The five finalists are:

• Ian Brown for Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning?

• Camilla Gibb for This Is Happy

• David Halton for Dispatches from the Front: Matthew Halton, Canada's Voice at War,

• Wab Kinew for The Reason You Walk

• Rosemary Sullivan for Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva

The winner of this year's prize will be announced at a gala luncheon and awards ceremony at the historic Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto on Monday, March 7th.

AT A NEWS CONFERENCE HELD ON Wednesday, January 11th, on behalf of the Jury, composed of John English, Ann MacMillan, and Colin McAdam, Mr. McAdam announced five finalists for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize. The five finalists are:

• Max Eisen for By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz

• Matti Friedman for Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier’s Story

• Ross King for Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of Water Lilies

• Marc Raboy for Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World

• Diane Schoemperlen for This Is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison, and Other Complications

Winner will be announced March 6th, 2017

The winner from 2016 was Rosemary Sullivan's Stalin's Daughter

The Longlisted books for the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize are:
1) Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on Bering's Great Voyage to Alaska by Stephen R. Bown
2) How to Fall in Love with Anyone by Mandy Len Catron
3) Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place by Daniel Coleman
4) The Marriott Cell: An Epic Journey from Cairo's Scorpion Prison to Freedom by Mohamed Fahmy
5) Solitude: A Singular Life in a Crowded World by Michael Harris
6) Life on the Ground Floor: Letters From the Edge of Emergency Medicine by James Maskalyk
7) A History of Canada in Ten Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land by Adam Shoalts
8) Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, by Tanya Talaga
9) In the Name of Humanity by Max Wallace
10) Apron Strings: Navigating Food and Family in France, Italy, and China by Jan Wong

The five finalists are:
• Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on Bering's Great Voyage to Alaska by Stephen R. Bown

• Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place by Daniel Coleman

• Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine by James Maskalyk

• Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, by Tanya Talaga

• In the Name of Humanity by Max Wallace

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, by Tanya Talaga won

The longlist books for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize are:

1. Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir, by Mark Critch
2. Just Let Me Look at You: On Fatherhood, by Bill Gaston,
3. Jan in 35 Pieces: A Memoir in Music, by Ian Hampton,
4. Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Roads, by Kate Harris
5. All Things Consoled: A Daughter's Memoir, by Elizabeth Hay,
6. Trust: Twenty Ways to Build a Better Country, by David Johnston,
7. Seeking the Fabled City: The Canadian Jewish Experience, by Allan Levine,
8. Power, Prime Ministers and the Press: The Battle for Truth on Parliament Hill, by Robert Lewis,
9. Heart Berries: A Memoir, by Terese Marie Mailhot,
10. Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age, by Darrel McLeod

Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Roads, by Kate Harris won

Finalist and Winner for 2020 which is the last year of the award
Mark Bourrie, Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre Radisson, Winner
Robyn Doolittle, Had It Coming: What's Fair in the Age of #MeToo?
Jessica McDiarmid, Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism
Timothy Winegard, The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
Ziya Tong, The Reality Bubble