Wednesday, January 15, 2014 • Toronto, Ontario: For immediate Release
2014 RBC Taylor Prize Shortlisted Authors
As Canada’s most prestigious national book award, the RBC Taylor Prize recognizes
excellence in literary non-fiction writing. With an emphasis on writing rather than
topic, the 2014 shortlist reflects the diversity of non-fiction titles being produced by
talented Canadian authors. What follows is a brief description of each of this year’s five
shortlisted books (alphabetical by author)
Charlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of nine acclaimed books of
literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London
School of Economics, she began her writing career in England. She came to Canada in 1979 and
worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to
authoring books. An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton
University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished
achievement in popularizing Canadian history and is a former Taylor Prize jurist. Charlotte is a
member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She lives in Ottawa
with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
Thomas King is a novelist, short-story writer, nonfiction author, screenwriter, and photographer.
He was born in the US, the son of a Greek mother and a Cherokee father. Thomas King worked as
an administrator and teacher at Humboldt State University and the University of Utah (PhD 1986)
before immigrating to Canada. He accepted a position in Native Studies at the University of
Lethbridge and soon began writing serious fiction. Often described as one of the finest
contemporary Native America writers, two of King’s books have been nominated for Governor
General’s Awards. In 2003 King was the first Native Canadian to deliver the Massey Lectures. The
author currently teaches English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.
J.B. MacKinnon is the author or coauthor of four books of nonfiction, one of which, Dead Man in
Paradise, won The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. MacKinnon also works in the field
of interactive documentaries. He was the writer for Bear 71, which explores the intersection of the
wired and wild worlds through the true story of a mother grizzly bear and is working with the CBC
on an interactive e-book about the Canadian wilderness. As a journalist, MacKinnon has won more
than a dozen national and international awards in categories as varied as essays, science writing,
and travelogue. MacKinnon is also a rock climber, mountain biker, snowboarder, and — yes — a
birdwatcher. He lives with his partner Alisa Smith in Vancouver, Canada.
Graeme Smith works as a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, supervising a small
team in Afghanistan. He previously served as a foreign correspondent for Canada’s national
newspaper, The Globe and Mail, with postings in Moscow, Kandahar (2006–2009), Delhi and
Istanbul. His awards include three National Newspaper Awards, Canada’s highest prize for print
journalism, and the annual Michener Award for public service given by the Governor General of
Canada. In 2013, Smith won the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction for The Dogs Are
Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan. He also won an Emmy in 2009, for a video series that
recorded the opinions of Taliban fighters. Mr. Smith is a graduate of Ryerson University and was
the editor of the Eyeopener, Ryerson’s student newspaper. He currently lives in Kabul.
David Hamilton Stouck was born in 1940 in Beamsville, Ontario and raised on a farm on the
Niagara Peninsula. He was educated at McMaster University and the University of Toronto and
was employed for 40 years in the English Department at Simon Fraser University where he is now
professor emeritus of English. He is a biographer whose works include Ethel Wilson: A Critical
Biography, shortlisted for the VanCity Book Prize, and Collecting Stamps Would Have Been More
Fun: The Correspondence of Sinclair Ross 1933-86, a finalist for the Alberta Book Prize.
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Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates
Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 cell: 416-801-3101 stephen@stephenweir.com
Linda Crane: 416.727.0112 | cranepr@rogers.com
To Download high-resolution images of the finalists and their books please go to:
http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2014/photogallery_14.asp