RBC Taylor Prize Announces 2014 Longlist

Compilation of twelve literary non-fiction titles includes a previous nominee and one past winner

TORONTO, Dec. 11, 2013 /CNW/ - Noreen Taylor, chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation and founder of the RBC Taylor Prize (formerly The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction), today announced the Longlist for 2014. Founded in 1998, the RBC Taylor Prize is Canada's most prestigious award for literary non-fiction. This year's jurors, Coral Ann Howells, James Polk, and Andrew Westoll, reviewed and debated the merits of 124 submissions from 45 publishers. The following twelve longlisted books are undergoing further scrutiny as the jurors work toward finalizing the 2014 Shortlist, scheduled for release at a press conference on Wednesday, January 15th, 2014. The winner announcement will be made on March 10th at the Omni King Edward Hotel.

"While our name may have changed," explains Mrs. Taylor, "the Prize focus on Canadian authors who command an exceptional grasp of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception continues. In our on-going efforts to promote the brightest and best of Canada's literary non-fiction authors, the RBC Taylor Prize sees the release of this Longlist, at the height of the holiday gift giving season, as an opportunity for readers to familiarize themselves with these fascinating reads."

The 2014 RBC Taylor Prize Longlist:

1. The Juggler's Children: A Journey into Family, Legend and the Genes that Bind Us by Carolyn Abraham (Toronto, Ontario), published by Random House Canada
2. The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial that Shocked a Century by Charlotte Gray (Ottawa, Ontario), published by HarperCollins
3. Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary Janigan (Toronto, Ontario), published by Knopf Canada
4. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King (Guelph, Ontario), published by Doubleday Canada
5. The Once and Future World: Nature As it Was, As it Is, As it Could Be by J.B. MacKinnon (Vancouver, BC), published by Random House Canada
6. The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan (Oxford, England), published by Allen Lane
7. How Architecture Works: A Humanist's Toolkit by Witold Rybcynski  (Philadelphia, PA), published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux
8. The Dogs are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan by Graeme Smith (Afghanistan), published by Knopf Canada
9. Arthur Erickson: An Architect's Life by David Stouck (Vancouver, BC), published by Douglas & McIntyre
10. Without Honour: The True Story of the Shafia Family and the Kingston Canal Murders by Rob Tripp (Calgary, Alberta), published by HarperCollins
11. Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter: Growing Up with a Gay Dad by Alison Wearing (Stratford, Ontario), published by Knopf Canada.
12. Little Ship of Fools: 16 Rowers, 1 Improbable Boat, 7 Tumultuous Weeks on the Atlantic by Charles Wilkins (Thunder Bay, Ontario), published by Greystone Books

Authors with previous affiliations with the Prize are Charlotte Gray who served as a juror in 2008. Her book Gold Digger was longlisted for the Prize in 2011. J.B. MacKinnon won the 2006 Charles Taylor Prize for Dead Man in Paradise, and he later served as a juror in 2008. Margaret MacMillan was shortlisted for her book, Paris 1919 in 2004, and she also served as a Prize juror in 2007. Witold Rybcynski was shortlisted for the inaugural Charles Taylor Prize in 2000 for A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America in the Nineteenth Century.

About The RBC Taylor Prize

The RBC Taylor Prize 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. This year, the Prize is introducing the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writer's Award which provides $10,000 to an emerging author, chosen by the RBC Taylor Prize winner.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montreal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). For more prize information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

The presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize is RBC Wealth Management, its Major Sponsor is Metropia, its media sponsors are The Globe and Mail (exclusive newspaper sponsor), 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 Omni King Edward Hotel.

For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca.
RBC Taylor Prize on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize

To download high-resolution images of these titles please go to:
www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2014/longlist_14.asp

SOURCE: RBC Taylor Prize