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partying politics

April 7, 2014 //

Covers of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize nominated books hang above the crowd at the Politics & the Pen Gala

At a black-tie dinner at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier last week, Maclean’s political editor Paul Wells was named the popular winner (with many friends and colleagues among the 500 guests) of the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006 –. You can read his acceptance speech on Macleans.ca, here.

The award is presented at the Politics & the Pen Gala, which raises in excess of $300,000 annually for the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

This year’s event was hosted (to a standing ovation after their opening skit) by Hon. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, and Ms. Megan Leslie, Member of Parliament for Halifax and member of the Official Opposition. Next to the announcement of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize winner, the co-hosts’ duet of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” with specially written lyrics about being a woman on Parliament Hill, was the highlight of the evening.

Paul Wells’ fellow nominees for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize were: Margaret MacMillan for The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914, Charles Montgomery for Happy City: Transforming Our Lives through Urban Design, Donald J. Savoie for Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher: How Government Decides and Why, and Graeme Smith for The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan, which won the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

Media coverage for the five Shaughnessy Cohen Prize nominees included an interview series in the Globe & Mail (here) and an interview with juror Doug Saunders on CBC Radio One’s Ottawa drive-home show, All in a Day, as the Politics & the Pen gala was getting underway.

CTV Ottawa came to the cocktail reception (video clip here), and Paul Wells was dragged out of bed dark and early the morning after his win to appear on CTV Ottawa’s breakfast show, CTV Morning Live (video clip here).

If you’d like to see some photos from the night, you’re in luck, because there are LOTS.

Here’s a selection:

 

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Categories Events, Fundraisers, Literary Awards, Publicity

shaughnessy cohen prize shortlist

February 4, 2014 //

image: shaughnessy cohen prize shortlist

 

The shortlist for the 2013 Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing was announced this morning.

The nominees are:

  • Margaret MacMillan for The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914
  • Charles Montgomery for Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
  • Donald J. Savoie for Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and Why
  • Graeme Smith for The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan
  • Paul Wells for The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006 —

Media coverage for the shortlist included:

Canadian Press

Globe and Mail

National Post

Quill & Quire

Toronto Star

The winner will be announced at the Politics & the Pen Gala in Ottawa on April 2.

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Categories Fundraisers, Literary Awards, Publicity

$114,000 and a few tears at the writers’ trust awards

November 29, 2013 //

Writers' Trust Award winners (l to r) Andrew Nikiforuk, Lisa Moore, Naben Ruthnum, Colin McAdam, Barbara Reid

On November 20, 2013 the Writers’ Trust of Canada held its 13th annual Writers’ Trust Awards in the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. The big winners of the night were:

  • Colin McAdam for A Beautiful Truth, which won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize;
  • Naben Ruthnum for “Cinema Rex,” which won the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize;
  • Lisa Moore, who won the Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award;
  • Andrew Nikiforuk, who won the Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life;
  • Barbara Reid, who won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People;
  • McClelland & Stewart, which won the Writers’ Trust Distinguished Contribution Award in recognition of having been the sponsor of the Journey Prize since its inception 25 years ago.

The Writers’ Trust Awards is always a great event to be a part of, with the feeling in the room being one of support, congratulation and celebration. The acceptance speeches were heartfelt, in some cases emotional, and spoke to the importance of awards such as these to support, nurture and also showcase Canada’s finest literary talent.

Here’s some of the media coverage:

 

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Categories Literary Awards, Publicity

writers at night

November 20, 2013 //

Gill Deacon and Zaib Shaikh host the Writers' Trust Gala

For this update I’m shamelessly borrowing the title of an annual series that Open Book: Toronto runs to preview the Writers’ Trust Gala. (It’s a fun series with a good title. Read it here.)

This year marked the 28th edition of the Gala, which was attended by more than 400 members of the literary, arts and philanthropic communities and raised $220,000 for the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

Highlights included the terrarium centrepieces containing miniature readers and books, a literary treasure hunt, and of course fine food and company with everyone dressed in their best.

Some photo galleries from the night are here, here, and here.

 

 

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graeme smith: hilary weston prize winner

October 24, 2013 //

Photographer: Sonia Recchia / Pimentel Photo

More than 200 members of the literary, arts and philanthropic communities gathered at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Monday, October 21, to fete the nominees and discover the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The one-hour ceremony included dramatic performances from the nominated books, a slide show of the books in locations across Canada, and original art created on the spot in response to  excerpts from the books. The event culminated, of course, in the announcement of the winner, and a “rock star party.”

Graeme Smith took the prize for his book The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan

The other nominees, who each took home $5,000, were:

  • Thomas King for The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America
  • J.B. MacKinnon for Our Once and Future World: Nature As it Was, As it Is, As it Could Be
  • Andrew Steinmetz for This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla
  • Priscila Uppal for Projection: Encounters With My Runaway Mother

Here’s some of the coverage:

 

 

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Categories Literary Awards, Publicity

and the fiction nominees are

October 3, 2013 //

image: WT Fiction Shortlist 2013

 

On Monday, September 30, we announced the nominees for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize at a press conference at Ben McNally Books in downtown Toronto. Prize juror and 2010 prize winner Miranda Hill announced the $10,000 Journey Prize shortlist. Prize juror Alison Pick and Jan Innes, vice president, government relations, Rogers Communications, announced the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize shortlist. The winners will be announced in Toronto on November 20.

The Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize nominees are:

  • Krista Bridge for The Eliot Girls
  • Lynn Coady for Hellgoing
  • Cary Fagan for A Bird’s Eye
  • Colin McAdam for A Beautiful Truth
  • Lisa Moore for Caught

The Journey Prize nominees are:

  • Doretta Lau for her story “How Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun?”
  • Eliza Robertson for her story “My Sister Sang”
  • Naben Ruthnum for his story “Cinema Rex”

Here’s some of the coverage:

 

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nonfiction nominees, aisle three

September 19, 2013 //

Hon. Hilary M. Weston welcomes guests to the announcement of the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction shortlist

 

On Wednesday, September 18 the shortlist for the $60,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction was announced. For the second year, books nominated for the prize will be promoted at Loblaws stores across Canada, and so, also for the second year, we announced the finalists at a swish event at Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens. While the cutting of the giant Parmesan (really, it’s big) did draw its own crowd, the real stars of the morning were the five nominees.

They are:

The winner will be announced on Monday, October 21.

Here’s some of the coverage from the shortlist announcement:

CBC Live (video)
CBC Books
Globe and Mail
National Post
Quill and Quire
Toronto Star

 

 

 

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Categories Literary Awards, Publicity

dedicated to difference

June 22, 2013 //

 

C.E. Gatchalian accepts the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers. Photo by Katrina Afonso.

Vancouver playwright C.E. Gatchalian was named the recipient of this year’s Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers on June 26.  The prize is administered by the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

In his acceptance speech he dedicated the award to “difference.” “As artists and as people who identify as Queer,” he said, “we must resist sameness whenever and wherever possible.”

Read the story in the National Post

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remember this name: laura clarke

June 9, 2013 //

Lynn Patterson from RBC presents Laura Clarke with her prize

On May 28, 2013, at a ceremony at Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Laura Clarke was named the winner of the $5,000 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers.

On May 29, Jeff Douglas read a poem from Laura’s winning collection, “Mule Variations,” on CBC Radio As it Happens. Here’s the audio.

And on June 8, Laura went on CBC Radio’s Fresh Air to talk about her poet’s journey thus far, and what it means to win an award such as this. Here’s the audio.

Congratulations to Laura and to her fellow nominees, Laura Matwichuk and Suzannah Showler.

Work by all three of the finalists is available as a free download in the iBookstore.

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politics and the pen

March 12, 2013 //

Mark Carney and Hon. John Baird co-host the 2013 Politics and the Pen Gala

This year’s Politics & the Pen Gala at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier welcomed 500 guests and raised more than $300,000 to support the programmes of the Writers’ Trust of Canada. It was also a swelligant evening where a good time was had by one and all.

Calgary author Marcello Di Cintio may have had a better time than most though. He was named winner of the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book Walls: Travels Along the Barricades.

Here’s some of the press:

CPAC, On the Bright Side. Video footage

Ottawa Citizen. A National Party Writ Large

iPolitics.ca. Where Politics meets the Pen

CTV Morning Live interview with Marcello Di Cintio

Globe & Mail Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Nominees interview series. Taras Grescoe

Calgary Herald, feature interview with Marcello Di Cintio

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