The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer.

Canada's most lucrative non-fiction prize, the winner receives a prize of CA$60,000 and all finalists receive CA$5,000.[1][2]

Sponsorship history

First established in 1997, the award's original corporate sponsor was Viacom. Pearson Canada, an educational book publishing company, took over the award in 1999, and Nereus Financial, a stock brokerage, became the sponsor from 2006 to 2008. After Nereus dropped its sponsorship, the award had no corporate sponsor until 2011,[3] when philanthropist and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Hilary Weston was announced as the award's new sponsor.[1]

Prior to Weston's patronage of the award, the prize was CA$15,000 for the winner and CA$2,000 for the finalists.

Nominees and winners

Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction winners
Year Author Title Result Ref.
1997 Ernest Hillen Small Mercies: A Boy After War Winner [4]
Charlotte Gray Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King Shortlist [5]
John Bentley Mays Power in the Blood: Land, Memory, and a Southern Family Shortlist
Ruth Teichroeb Flowers on My Grave Shortlist
Eileen Whitfield Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood Shortlist
1998 Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman Winner [6]
Michael Ignatieff Isaiah Berlin: A Life Shortlist [7]
David Manicom Progeny of Ghosts: Travels in Russia and the Old Empire Shortlist
Linda Spalding The Follow Shortlist
Charles Wilkins The Circus at the Edge of the Earth Shortlist
1999 Modris Eksteins Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II and the Heart of our Century Winner [8]
Robert Bringhurst Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World Shortlist [9]
Jacalyn Duffin History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction Shortlist
Moira Farr After Daniel: A Suicide Survivor’s Tale Shortlist
Wayne Johnston Baltimore’s Mansion: A Memoir Shortlist
2000 Erna Paris Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History Winner [10]
Donald Harman Akenson Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus Shortlist [11]
Hugh Brody The Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers and the Shaping of the World Shortlist
Taras Grescoe Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec Shortlist
John Stackhouse Out of Poverty: And into Something More Comfortable Shortlist
2001 Clark Blaise Time Lord Winner [12]
Kevin Major As Near to Heaven by Sea Shortlist [13]
Heather Pringle The Mummy Congress Shortlist
Carol Shields Jane Austen Shortlist
Jack Todd The Taste of Metal: A Deserter’s Story Shortlist
2002 Jake MacDonald Houseboat Chronicles: Notes from a Life in Shield Country Winner [14]
Katherine Ashenburg The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die Shortlist [15]
Andrew Clark Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle Shortlist
Marni Jackson Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign Shortlist
Lorie Miseck Promise of Salt Shortlist
2003 Brian Fawcett Virtual Clearcut, or The Way Things Are in My Hometown Winner [16]
Mark Abley Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages Shortlist [17]
J. Edward Chamberlin If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground Shortlist
Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle Sahara: A Natural History Shortlist
Taras Grescoe The End of Elsewhere: Travels Among the Tourists Shortlist
2004 Elaine Dewar The Second Tree: Of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality Winner [18]
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-City Shantytown Shortlist [19]
Trevor Herriot Jacob’s Wound: A Search for the Spirit of Wildness Shortlist
Patrick Lane There is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden Shortlist
Charles Montgomery The Last Heathen: Encounters With Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia Shortlist
2005 John Vaillant The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed Winner [20]
Rebecca Godfrey Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk Shortlist [21]
Stephen Lewis Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa Shortlist
J.B. MacKinnon Dead Man in Paradise Shortlist
2006 Dragan Todorovic The Book of Revenge Winner [22]
Charlotte Gray Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell Shortlist [23]
Barbara Kingscote Ride the Rising Wind: One Woman’s Journey Across Canada Shortlist
Noah Richler This is My Country, What’s Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada Shortlist
Rudy Wiebe Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest Shortlist
2007 Anna Porter Kasztner's Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the Holocaust Winner [24]
Katherine Ashenburg The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History Shortlist [25]
Tim Bowling The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture Shortlist
Barry Gough Fortune’s a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest America Shortlist
Douglas Hunter God’s Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery Shortlist
2008 Taras Grescoe Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood Winner [26]
Carl Honoré Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting Shortlist [27]
Mark Kingwell Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City Shortlist
Margaret Visser The Gift of Thanks: The Roots, Persistence and Paradoxical Meanings of a Social Ritual Shortlist
Russell Wangersky Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself Shortlist
2009 Brian Brett Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life Winner [28]
Wade Davis The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World Shortlist [29]
Trevor Herriot Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds Shortlist
Erika Ritter The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships Shortlist
Eric Siblin The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece Shortlist
2010 James FitzGerald What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past Winner [30]
Ross King Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven Shortlist [31]
Sarah Leavitt Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother and Me Shortlist
John Theberge and Mary Theberge The Ptarmigan's Dilemma: An Exploration into How Life Organizes and Supports Itself Shortlist
Merrily Weisbord The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das Shortlist
2011 Charles Foran Mordecai: The Life & Times Winner [32]
Charlotte Gill Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe Shortlist [33]
Richard Gwyn Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891 Shortlist
Grant Lawrence Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nudist Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound Shortlist
Ray Robertson Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live Shortlist
2012 Candace Savage A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape Winner [34]
Kamal Al-Solaylee Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes Shortlist [34]
Modris Eksteins Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the Crisis of Truth in the Modern Age Shortlist
Taras Grescoe Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile Shortlist
JJ Lee The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit Shortlist
2013 Graeme Smith The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan Winner [35]
Thomas King The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America Shortlist [36]
J.B. MacKinnon The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be Shortlist
Andrew Steinmetz This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla Shortlist
Priscila Uppal Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother Shortlist
2014 Naomi Klein This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate Winner [37]
Susan Delacourt Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them Shortlist [37]
Charles Montgomery Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design Shortlist
Paula Todd Extreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies, and Predators Online Shortlist
Kathleen Winter Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage Shortlist
2015 Rosemary Sullivan Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva Winner [38]
Eliott Behar Tell it to the World: International Justice and the Secret Campaign to Hide Mass Murder in Kosovo Shortlist [39]
Douglas Coupland Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-Lucent Shortlist
Dean Jobb Empire of Deception: From Chicago to Nova Scotia – The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation Shortlist
Lynette Loeppky Cease: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Desire Shortlist
2016 Deborah Campbell Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War Winner [40]
Ian Brown Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty-First Year: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? Shortlist [41]
Matti Friedman Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier’s Story Shortlist
Ross King Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies Shortlist
Sonja Larsen Red Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary Shortlist
2017 James Maskalyk Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine Winner [42]
Ivan Coyote Tomboy Survival Guide Shortlist [43]
Kyo Maclear Birds Art Life: A Field Guide to the Small and Significant Shortlist
Carol Off All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others Shortlist
Tanya Talaga Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City Shortlist
2018 Elizabeth Hay All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir Winner [44]
Will Aitken Antigone Undone: Juliette Binoche, Anne Carson, Ivo Van Hove, and the Art of Resistance Shortlist [45]
Terese Marie Mailhot Heart Berries Shortlist
Judi Rever In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front Shortlist
Lindsay Wong The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family Shortlist
2019 Jenny Heijun Wills Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related Winner [46]
Alicia Elliott Mind Spread Out on the Ground Shortlist [47]
Anna Mehler Paperny Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person Shortlist
Tanya Talaga All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward Shortlist
Ayelet Tsabari The Art of Leaving Shortlist
2020 Jessica J. Lee Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan’s Mountains and Coasts in Search of My Family’s Past Winner [48]
Lorna Crozier Through the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats) Shortlist [48]
Steven Heighton Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos Shortlist
Tessa McWatt Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging Shortlist
David Neel The Way Home Shortlist
2021 Tomson Highway Permanent Astonishment Winner [49]
Jordan Abel Nishga Shortlist [50]
Ken Haigh On Foot to Canterbury Shortlist
Darrel J. McLeod Peyakow Shortlist
Ian Williams Disorientation Shortlist
2022 Dan Werb The Invisible Siege: The Rise of Coronaviruses and the Search for a Cure Winner [51]
Geoff Dembicki The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change Shortlist [52]
Tara McGowan-Ross Nothing Will Be Different: A Memoir Shortlist
Debra Thompson The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging Shortlist
Joshua Whitehead Making Love with the Land Shortlist
2023 Christina Sharpe Ordinary Notes Winner [53]
Jamal Saeed My Road from Damascus Shortlist [54]
Angela Sterritt Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls
Emily Urquhart Ordinary Wonder Tales
John Vaillant Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World

References

  1. 1 2 "Writers' Trust non-fiction prize bumped up to $60,000" Archived 2011-08-11 at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, May 11, 2011.
  2. M.A. Orthofer, "Writers' Trust of Canada Prize for Non-Fiction " Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, complete review, 26 October 2011.
  3. "Nominees for Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction announced" Archived 2013-01-04 at archive.today. National Post, September 20, 2011.
  4. "Literary Prizes Awarded". Ottawa Citizen, January 20, 1998.
  5. "Govier takes Engel prize". The Globe and Mail, November 20, 1997.
  6. Val Ross, "Writers awarded $10,000 prizes". The Globe and Mail, January 19, 1999.
  7. "Butala wins Engel prize". The Globe and Mail, November 20, 1998.
  8. Aida Edamariam, "Toronto historian, Calgary novelist honoured by their peers: Writers' trust awards". National Post, March 30, 2000.
  9. "Nominations announced". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 2000.
  10. "Writers' Trust awards named: Prizes mark Canadian achievements". Sudbury Star, March 6, 2001.
  11. "Finalists named for Writer's Trust prizes". Niagara Falls Review, February 3, 2001.
  12. Judy Stoffman, "Seven authors win big prizes ; Levine, Blaise, Hay among those honoured in T.O.". Toronto Star, March 6, 2002.
  13. "Double nominations in Writers' Trust awards". The Telegram, February 17, 2002.
  14. "Manitoulin author among award winners". Sault Star, March 8, 2003.
  15. "Finalists named for Writers' Trust Awards". The Globe and Mail, February 12, 2003.
  16. Anne-Marie Tobin, "Writers from across Canada receive literary awards". The Western Star, March 6, 2004.
  17. Judy Stoffman, "Overlooked books make shortlist". Toronto Star, February 4, 2004.
  18. Judy Stoffman, "Engel 'knocked out' by honour; Sleuth writer cops Matt Cohen prize Seven, in all, feted by Writers Trust". Toronto Star, March 10, 2005.
  19. "Munro, Newman among finals for literary awards". Peterborough Examiner, February 5, 2005.
  20. "Joseph Boyden, John Vaillant glean Writers' Trust Awards". Sault Star, March 2, 2006.
  21. "Crummey in running for national prize". The Telegram, February 3, 2006.
  22. "N.L. writer's 'Inside' wins fiction prize". Telegraph-Journal, March 8, 2007.
  23. Pat Donnelly, "Hage, Behrens face off again". Montreal Gazette, February 8, 2007.
  24. James Adams, "Lawrence Hill, Anna Porter win Writers' Trust Awards". The Globe and Mail, April 2, 2008.
  25. "Writer's Trust contenders named". Harbour City Star, March 1, 2008.
  26. Mark Medley, "Winnipeg novelist wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize; Miriam Toews takes $25,000 award for her road-trip story The Flying Troutmans". Winnipeg Free Press, November 18, 2008.
  27. "Who's in the running for some of this year's big awards". Montreal Gazette, October 25, 2008.
  28. Mark Medley, "Ontario-born B.C. writer Annabel Lyon wins fiction prize for The Golden Mean". CanWest News Service, November 24, 2009.
  29. "Munro, Coupland on fiction shortlist for Writer's Trust prizes". Edmonton Journal, October 1, 2009.
  30. Mark Medley, "Emma Donoghue wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize". Vancouver Sun, November 3, 2010.
  31. John Barber, "Emma Donoghue, Kathleen and Michael Winter among finalists for Writers' Trust". The Globe and Mail, September 29, 2010.
  32. Mark Medley, "Patrick deWitt wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize". Postmedia News, November 2, 2011.
  33. Mark Medley, "Non-fiction award has words from a new sponsor; Finalists revealed; $80,000 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize". National Post, September 21, 2011.
  34. 1 2 Quill, Greg (November 12, 2012). "Candace Savage's prairie meditation takes Writers' Trust Nonfiction Prize". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013.
  35. Mark Medley, "Afghan war memoir honoured; Smith wins Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction". Vancouver Sun, October 22, 2013.
  36. Paul Irish, "Writers' Trust releases nonfiction short list: Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian makes list of five". Toronto Star, September 19, 2013.
  37. 1 2 Deborah Dundas, "Naomi Klein wins Hilary Weston prize". Toronto Star, October 15, 2014.
  38. Medley, Mark (October 6, 2015). "Biography of Stalin's daughter wins Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022.
  39. Robertson, Becky (September 16, 2015). "Douglas Coupland, Rosemary Sullivan among Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-fiction finalists". Quill and Quire. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022.
  40. Bethune, Brian (November 3, 2016). "Rogers Writers' Trust: Celebrating the 2016 winners". Maclean's. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022.
  41. "Ian Brown, Ross King among finalists for Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". Canadian Press, September 28, 2016.
  42. Beattie, Steven W. (November 15, 2017). "David Chariandy, Billie Livingston, and Diane Schoemperlen among the winners at the 2017 Writers' Trust awards". Quill and Quire. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019.
  43. Medley, Mark (September 20, 2017). "Hilary Weston Prize shortlist announced". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022.
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  46. Dundas, Deborah (November 5, 2019). "Andre Alexis, Jenny Heijun Wills are big winners at Writers' Trust Awards". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019.
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  48. 1 2 Takeuchi, Craig (September 19, 2020). "Gil Adamson, Jessica J. Lee win Writers' Trust literary prizes". Now. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022.
  49. van Koeverden, Jane (November 3, 2021). "Katherena Vermette, Tomson Highway and Cherie Dimaline among winners at 2021 Writers' Trust Awards". CBC Books. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021.
  50. Qiao, Vicky (September 15, 2021). "Jordan Abel & Ian Williams among five finalists for $60K Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". CBC Books. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022.
  51. Dundas, Deborah (November 2, 2022). "Writers' Trust 2022 book award winners collect $270,000 in prizes". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022.
  52. "Joshua Whitehead among finalists for $60K Writers' Trust non-fiction prize". Toronto Star. September 21, 2022. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022.
  53. Nicole Thompson, "Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel". Toronto Star, November 21, 2023.
  54. Brad Wheeler, "Shortlist for $75,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction includes past winner John Vaillant, scholar Christina Sharpe". The Globe and Mail, September 20, 2023.
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