Nice to have a prize-watch announcement that's not in October or November. The Writers' Trust announced the shortlist for its Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Shortlisted are: (and I'm a bit chuffed to see two books I have actually read -- though there seem to be no historians on the political history shortlist.)
Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother by Norma Dunning (Douglas & McIntyre)From Left to Right: Saskatchewan’s Political and Economic Transformation by Dale Eisler (University of Regina Press)
Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy by Josh O’Kane (Random House Canada)
Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) (HarperCollins Publishers)
How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World by Chris Turner (Random House Canada)
The winner will be announced May 10.
Further on prizes, the Hilary Weston Prize recently announced it would add an International Hilary Weston to its existing Canadian Hilary Weston Prize. Now, I'm not going to oppose more prizes for nonfiction writing (there are quite a few nowadays), but it needs to be understood we cannot really build a literary culture on prizes alone.
Some of the wealthy donors and foundations that put their names on prizes might get more bang for their buck by endowing grants, endowments, residencies and similar supports that actually support the creation of serious nonfiction work in Canada -- rather than just rewarding those who manage to produce good work without such support. These remains a grievous gap in our cultural infrastructure, even as prizes proliferate.
