Wiebe wins the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction
Rudy Wiebe received the $25 000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction for his work Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest in a ceremony at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto today. The three member jury chose Wiebe’s memoir of growing up in rural Saskatchewan from a set of three finalists, which also included Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919 – 1968 by John English and The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism by Ross King.
Named for the essayist and member of The Globe and Mail editorial board, the Charles Taylor prize has been honouring works of Canadian non-fiction since 2000.
Books eligible for the prize were works of literary non-fiction written by Canadian citizens or permanent residents, published between November 1, 2005 and October 31, 2006 and widely available across the country. The jury, which included Senator Laurier LaPierre, Dr. Margaret MacMillan and Jan Walter, made the shortlist from a record 98 books submitted by 23 publishers.