EDMONTON, Oct. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - The Trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are pleased to announce that the jurors for the 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are Susanne Boyce, Richard Gwyn, and Joseph Kertes. The jury is currently reviewing publishers' submissions and preparing to announce their 2013 prize longlist via press release in early December. Established in 1998, The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Canada's most prestigious award for literary non-fiction.
About The Charles Taylor Prize Jurors for 2013:
Susanne Boyce is one of North America's most respected TV broadcast program chiefs. Ms. Boyce has been a producer, a programmer and an executive at both public and private networks. Most recently she was President, CTV Creative, Content and Specialties. A champion of Canadian production and nation-building shows with a world-wide reach, she was responsible for one of the most watched original programming slates in Canadian television. Prior to this, she held production and management positions at both CBC (The Journal, Midday, Newsworld) and BCTV (Webster!/Newshour). She lives in Toronto.
Richard Gwyn is an award-winning columnist for the Toronto Star and a frequent contributor to television and radio. His books include biographies of Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood, The Unlikely Revolutionary and of Prime Minister Pierre-Elliot Trudeau, The Northern Magus. Gwyn's 1995 book, Nationalism Without Walls; The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian, was selected by The Literary Review of Canada as one of their 100 most influential Canadian books. The first volume of his current work, John A, The Man Who Made Us: The Life and Times of John A. Macdonald, 1815-1867, won the 2008 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction; the second volume, Nation-Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald; His Life, Our Times, 1867 to 1891, won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize and the John Dafoe Prize and was shortlisted for three other major prizes. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and the recipient of five honorary degrees.
Joseph Kertes was born in communist Hungary but escaped with his family to Canada in 1956. He studied English at York University and the University of Toronto, where he was influenced by both Irving Layton and Marshall McLuhan. Mr. Kertes founded Humber College's distinguished creative writing and comedy programs. He is currently Humber's Dean of Creative and Performing Arts. His first novel, Winter Tulips, won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. Boardwalk, his second novel, and two children's books, The Gift and The Red Corduroy Shirt, met with critical acclaim. His latest novel, Gratitude, has won a Canadian National Jewish Book Award and the U.S. National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. He has also been a finalist for the CBC Literary Competition.
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation chose to again announce its forthcoming prize jury at Litfest, in support of this popular Edmonton-based International Literary Festival which concerns itself primarily with works of non-fiction. For the second year in a row, in conjunction with the jury announcement, this year's prize finalists are the headliners at Litfest's signature event, the Charles Taylor Prize Bash (http://www.litfestalberta.org/)
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation established The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction to commemorate the life and work of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community. Charles Taylor was a foreign correspondent with The Globe and Mail and the author of four books: Radical Tories; Reporter in Red China; Six Journeys: A Canadian Pattern; and Snow Job.
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction 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. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support.
The prize longlist will be announced via press release on December 4th; the shortlist will be revealed at a press conference on January 9th, and the winner will be named at a gala luncheon and awards ceremony at the King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto on Monday, March 4, 2013.
The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montreal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto).
The presenting sponsor of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is RBC Wealth Management; its Major Sponsor is Windfields Farm; its media sponsors are The Globe and Mail (exclusive newspaper sponsor); CBC Books; 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, Indigo Books and Music, Kobo Inc., and The King Edward Hotel.
Image with caption: "Susanne Boyce (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121026_C2366_PHOTO_EN_19755.jpg
Image with caption: "Richard Gwyn (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121026_C2366_PHOTO_EN_19756.jpg
Image with caption: "Joseph Kertes (CNW Group/Charles Taylor Prize)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121026_C2366_PHOTO_EN_19757.jpg
SOURCE: Charles Taylor Prize
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