Sandra Martin
The British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction has revealed the 10 books on its long list, including A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices by former Globe and Mail journalist Sandra Martin.
Three of the books on the long list are also finalists for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, which will be awarded on Wednesday. They are: A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War by B.C.-based journalist Deborah Campbell; Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story by Israeli-Canadian journalist Matti Friedman; and Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Governor General's Literary Award winner Ross King.
Marc Raboy's Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World, which was a finalist for this year's Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, is also on the long list for the award, which is open to writers from across the country.
Vancouver-based writer Ivan Coyote's memoir Tomboy Survival Guide is on the list, along with Governor General's Award-winning novelist Diane Schoemperlen's This is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison, and Other Complications.
Rounding out the list are former Hilary Weston Prize winner Taras Grescoe for Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love and International Intrigue on the Eve of the Second World War; Robert Moor's On Trails: An Exploration; and Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve by Alexandra Shimo.
The finalists were selected from more than 140 books by a jury made up of Vancouver Writers Fest artistic director Hal Wake; veteran publishing executive, editor and bookseller Jan Walter; and former Vancouver Magazine editor-in-chief John Burns.
The short list will be announced on December 1 and the $40,000 prize awarded in early 2017.
Marsha Lederman