Wednesday, January 14, 2015 • Toronto, Ontario: For immediate Release
THE FINALISTS FOR THE FOURTEENTH RBC
TAYLOR PRIZE
Shortlisted authors based in Ontario, Quebec and London, England
AT A NEWS CONFERENCE, held on Wednesday, January 14th, in Toronto, jurors Ms.
Kevin Garland, Martin Levin, and Andrew Preston, named five authors as this year’s
finalists for The 2015 RBC Taylor Prize.
The five finalists and their books are: They Left Us Everything by PLUM JOHNSON
(Toronto, Ontario), published by Penguin Canada; One Day in August: The Untold
Story Behind Canada’s Tragedy at Dieppe by DAVID O'KEEFE (Montreal, Quebec),
published by Random House Canada; The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in our
Times by BARBARA TAYLOR (London, England), published by Hamish Hamilton
Canada; And Home Was Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa by M. G. VASSANJI
(Toronto, Ontario), published by Doubleday Canada; Boundless by KATHLEEN
WINTER (Montreal, Quebec), published by House of Anansi Press.
“These five books represent not only the finest non-fiction written in Canada today
but also represent the topics that Canadians find interesting,” said Prize founder
Noreen Taylor. "Taken collectively, they present a fascinating glimpse of the lens we
look through when we view ourselves, our history, and the world beyond our
borders.”
"RBC Wealth Management is honoured to be the title sponsor of Canada’s most
prestigious non-fiction prize,” said Vijay Parmar, President, RBC PH&N Investment
Counsel. “The RBC Taylor Prize fosters literary excellence and aligns with RBC’s
overall commitment to the arts. We strongly believe that art has the power to enrich
our lives and enhance our communities and therefore are thrilled to play a part in
helping to raise the profile of those writers who make an indelible mark on
Canadian literature.”
The RBC Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and
emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. All finalists
will be supported by extensive publicity and promotional opportunities over the
next two months. The five authors will take part in a free Round Table discussion at
the Toronto Reference Library in downtown Toronto on Thursday February 26th at
7:00 pm. This public author event is sponsored by the International Festival of
Authors (IFOA), The Toronto Public Library and The Globe and Mail newspaper. As
well, they will appear on stage at The Globe and Mail / Ben McNally Authors’ Brunch
on Sunday, March 1st at the Omni King Edward Hotel. For tickets:
www.benmcnallybooks.com.
This will be the fourteenth awarding of The RBC Taylor Prize. The prize consists of
$25,000 and a crystal trophy for the winning author and $2,000 for each of the
runners-up as well as extensive national publicity and promotional support to help
all books stand out in the national media and book retailers across the country. The
winner of this year's prize will be announced at a gala luncheon and awards
ceremony at The King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto on Monday, March 2nd.
Sharing a commitment to emerging Canadian artists, The Charles Taylor Foundation
and RBC will also grant the second annual RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writers
Award. Shortly after the March 2nd luncheon an emerging author will be selected by
the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize winner.
At the Wednesday morning News Conference each jury citation for the five finalists
and their books was read out. Those citations are as follows:
Plum Johnson for They Left Us Everything, published by Penguin Canada
The jury notes: “Beautifully observed and 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 23room 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. A story of love, loss, and legacy, written with
compassion and humour, it subtly evokes T.S. Eliot’s lines: ‘We shall not cease from
exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and
know the place for the first time.’”
David O’Keefe for One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada’s
Tragedy at Dieppe, published by Random House Canada
The jury notes: “Ever since news of its failure rippled across the Atlantic 72 years
ago, the Dieppe raid has been a staple of Canadian history and a touchstone of our
national identity. It is difficult to imagine that a historian could have anything
genuinely new to say about it, yet David O’Keefe shows a new side to the story.
Highly original and bracingly revisionist, One Day in August is that rare book that is
able to say something new about something so familiar. Based on extensive research
in official records in Canada and Britain, many of them previously undiscovered or
long-forgotten, One Day in August is historical writing at its best: engrossing,
revealing, and enlightening. It should be required reading for all Canadians.”
Barbara Taylor for The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in our Times,
published by Hamish Hamilton Canada
The jury notes: “A work of major substance and shocking honesty, The Last Asylum
is a haunting tale of madness in the modern age. In this beautifully written memoir,
Barbara Taylor uses her own harrowing experiences in psychoanalysis not only as a
vehicle for personal discovery but as a prism through which to view contemporary
attitudes towards mental illness. But Taylor is also a noted scholar of modern
British culture and society, and her investigative powers as a historian are also on
full display in this book. She explores Friern, an insane asylum first built by the
Victorians where she received extensive treatment and which serves as the
backdrop for her painful but revealing personal journey. Exquisitely crafted, The
Last Asylum is an intellectual and stylistic tour de force.”
M. G. Vassanji for And Home Was Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa, published
by Doubleday Canada
The jury notes: “In And Home Was Kariakoo, novelist M. G. Vassanji has written both
an evocative memoir of his childhood in East Africa and a searching look at Tanzania
and Kenya today. Returning in his sixties to his old neighbourhood in Dar es Salaam,
and then embarking on a journey that takes him on local buses over rutted, barely
passable roads to villages and ghost settlements, he changes the lens through which
we view Africa. Vassanji casts a cool and unsparingly critical eye over the slave
trade, colonialism and leftist revolutionaries, over the “beggar” mentality that
pervades these countries and donor celebrities courting publicity. At the same time,
he evokes the teeming aliveness of east Africa, its heat, its smells, its exotic foods
and the surprising joyfulness of its people. In his journey, the reader too uncovers
an Africa deserving respect rather than pity.”
Kathleen Winter for Boundless, published by House of Anansi Press
The jury notes: “In this evocative travel memoir, Kathleen Winter joins an
expedition through the North West Passage as official trip “writer.” Thus begins her
very personal voyage. As the ship sails into the Canadian Arctic, following the path
of the doomed Franklin expedition, she reflects on the extraordinary life her parents
chose as British emigrants settling in the wilds of Newfoundland. The events of the
voyage are interwoven with her childhood memories, her struggles with adulthood
and aging, her often intense engagement with fellow travelers, and breathtaking
descriptions of the arctic light, the sea, the ice, the stark landscapes, and the people.
The impact of climate change, and Canadian policies and inattention to First Nations
are clearly and judiciously presented. The deep impact of this unplanned voyage on
Winter’s connection to our natural world is beautifully and poetically told.”
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 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., The Toronto Library Board, and The
Omni King Edward Hotel.
For more information visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca.
For more information about the finalists visit
http://www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/finalists_15.asp.
Visit RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize.
Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize.
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Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates
Stephen Weir: 416.489.5868 | cell: 416.801.3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com
To download high-resolution images of the jury, finalists, and shortlisted titles,
please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/photogallery_15.asp