Pióro

I’ve known about Richard Ford’s soft spot for Canada for a long time. Years ago, when I heard him read at the International Festival of Authors, he followed two Canadian writers (Joseph Boyden and another whose name I can’t remember). As the only non-Canuck in the bunch, Ford had the host mention in the introduction [...]

When I started this guide, I knew I wouldn’t be able to give all the categories the attention they deserve. I don’t think I could have done it even if I had started when all the nominations were announced at the beginning of May. But, in an effort wrap this thing up with a big [...]

In magazines, the writers write, the editors edit, the art directors do stuff with pictures and keep editors from going crazy with too many words, and the circulators…circulate? Whatever they do, it is a dark and mysterious art whose importance I don’t question. I just don’t understand it. As a special treat, below is [...]

Purpose To find the most likely winner in the science, technology and environment category.
Hypothesis The odds favour powerhouses, such as The Walrus, Maclean’s and Report on Business. Award-magnet explore is also a strong specimen.
Materials 10 Canadian magazine articles:

explore, “The Amazing Survivorbear” [.pdf of article] by J.B. MacKinnon
L’actualité, “Gentilly: la centrale de tous les soupçons” by Valérie [...]

In the investigative reporting category, writers get all Woodward and Bernstein, which can mean playing the Access to Information Act–game, interviewing scores of people or getting shot at.
Alison Motluk’s examination of the cluster fudge that lead to Stephen Harper pulling the plug on Canada’s production of medical isotopes (“A Political Meltdown,” The Walrus) is more [...]

This category is explore versus explore (versus explore versus explore) and friends. First let’s see what happens if we let the explore nominees duke it out.
“The Big Blue” [.pdf of story] is the only true adventure story in this category. Writer Charles Wilkins and 15 others paddle across the Atlantic in a tale of physical [...]