List of Edna Staebler Award recipients
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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 References External links |
This list displays the shortlist honourees and the winning authors of the Edna Staebler Award, aside the title of their authorship being honoured. Since its inception in 1991, it has been awarded annually to the writer of the year's "best work of creative non-fiction". The award is limited to Canadian authors for their first or second published work. The literary award, was established by an endowment from Edna Staebler, an award winning author and journalist, and is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Arts.[1]
1991
Susan Mayse wins the first annual "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin.[2]
Ginger is a narrative of the life, and "untimely" death of Albert "Ginger" Goodwin; a migrant coal miner from Treeton, England. The book focuses on Goodwin's life from his arrival on Vancouver Island in late 1910, until his controversial death in 1918.[3] The controversy around Goodwin's death remains to the present day, and Mayse chronicles the events to a full account; in Ginger.[2][3]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin | ISBN 9781550170184 |
1992
Marie Wadden is the winner of the 1992 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Nitassinan: The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland.[4]
Nitassinan is a narrative account of the Innu people's struggle to stop development of their indigenous land, called "Nitassinan" in their native tongue, which means "our land". In the book, Wadden documents the associated plight, and a peoples "endurance to prevail".[4]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland | ISBN 9781550540017 | ||
Nominees[4] | A Journey to Canada's Family Farms | ISBN 9780771044014 | ||
and Mary Lasovich | A Death Behind Bars | ISBN 9780195412680 | ||
The Women Who Run Canada | ISBN 9780770425265 | |||
The Tragedy of Canada's Runaways | ISBN 9780802067050 |
1993
Liza Potvin shares the 1993 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for White Lies (for my mother).[5] while Elizabeth Hay shares the award for The Only Snow in Havana in a year that had two co-winners.[6]
White Lies (for my mother) is a personal narrative of Potvin's recovery from incest, compiled from 15 years of journal entries. Potvin said: "It was really risky writing it at all. The positive reception makes it worth the risk".[5]
The Only Snow in Havana is a narrative of Hay's own life experiences, traveling outside Canada for eight years. Hay returned to Ottawa 1n 1992, and wrote three books about her travels. The Only Snow in Havana is the second book, in the trilogy.[6]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | ISBN 9780920897133 | |||
ISBN 9780920953808 |
1994
Linda Johns is the winner of the 1994 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Sharing a Robin's Life.[7]
Sharing a Robin's Life is a story about a robin that bonds with the author after she gave it aid when it was a doomed chick abandoned by its mother. The story gives pause to long held preconceptions about the natural world around us.[7]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | ISBN 9781551090559 |
1995
Denise Chong is the winner of the 1995 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for The Concubine's Children: Portrait of a Family Divided.[8]
Chong's book, recounts her family history on both sides of the ocean. It begins with her grandfather, who left his wife in China when he came to Canada as a Chinese immigrant. And her grandmother, who was purchased as a concubine, by her grandfather when he arrived in Canada. Chong tells her story in compelling prose; an "astonishing tale of how that family was rent apart for the sake of her grandfather".[8]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Portrait of a Family Divided | ISBN 9780140254273 | ||
Nominees[8] | A Breast Cancer Story | ISBN 9781568361383 | ||
ISBN 9780773728325 | ||||
ISBN 9780919591813 |
1996
George G. Blackburn is the winner of the 1996 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for The Guns of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944.[9]
George Blackburn joined the Canadian army during World War II and fought at the invasion of Normandy. He kept a journal in case he managed to survive. After the war he compiled his notes into a history based narrative of his own experiences and notes from others who were there. The Guns of Normandy is the result and it has been called a "gripping read".[9]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944 | ISBN 9780771015038 | ||
Nominees[9] | The Dreams, Realities and Illusions of Leadership | ISBN 9780773728585 | ||
Before the Fame | ISBN 9780670864874 | |||
ISBN 9781770500174 |
1997
Anne Mullens is the winner of the 1997 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Timely Death: Considering Our Last Rights.[10]
Timely Death is an emotional read that informs, and moves its reader to a better understanding of other people. The book was well-researched and written with "compassion and clarity". The debate over end of life choices is growing with every advance in medicine, and makes Timely Death a poignant read.[10]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Considering Our Last Rights | ISBN 9780394280844 | ||
Nominees[10] | ISBN 9780778010470 | |||
The Enduring Value of Place | ISBN 9781551990026 | |||
The Making of a Canadian Garden | ISBN 9780394281544 |
1998
Charlotte Gray is the winner of the 1998 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King.[11]
Charlotte Gray's biography was considered by the panel of judges to be "an outstanding example of the genre". They said "Charlotte Gray has written a biography with the narrative power of a fine novel."[11]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King | ISBN 9780670866748 | ||
Nominees[11] | ISBN 9780889202924 | |||
The Controversial Issue of Religion in Canada's Schools | ISBN 9780771083198 | |||
ISBN 9781896300184 |
1999
Michael Poole is the winner of the 1999 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" for Romancing Mary Jane: A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower.[12]
Michael Poole began growing marihuana with the idea that "he'd make a bundle, live like a lord and loll away the winters on tropical beaches." Poole recounts a very different reality in his book, Romancing Mary Jane.[12]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower | ISBN 9781550547498 | ||
Nominees[12] | A Canadian Odyssey | ISBN 9781550546521 | ||
and Rowena Mahar | One Family's Tragedy in the Halifax Explosion | ISBN 9781551092409 | ||
1930 | ISBN 9780494516690 |
2000
Wayson Choy is the winner of the 2000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood.[13]
"The judges enjoyed this compassionate, honest, vivid mystery which really makes the community in which it is set come to life", explained award administrator Kathryn Wardropper. "We really considered it to be an outstanding example of the genre."[13]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | A Chinatown Childhood | ISBN 9780312284152 | ||
Nominees[13] | An Apprenticeship in Love and Loss | ISBN 9780786707201 | ||
A Memoir | ISBN 9780670886203 | |||
A Journey at Sea | ISBN 9780385498845 | |||
The Apprenticeship of a Young Writer as a Hospital Clerk | ISBN 9781550651218 |
2001
Taras Grescoe is the winner of the 2001 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec.[14]
In Sacré Blues Grescoe explains the aboriginal cultural within the political landscapes. He is particularly candid in his commentary, saying, "people are missing opportunities for their own greatness."[14]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec | ISBN 9781551990811 | ||
Nominees[14] | The Adventures and Misadventures of a Wireless Operator in Bomber Command | ISBN 9780385660778 | ||
A Personal Calligraphy | ISBN 9780864923165 | |||
A Prairie Passage | ISBN 9780773732711 |
2002
Tom Allen is the winner of the 2002 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Rolling Home: A Cross Canada Railroad Memoir.[15]
Rolling Home extenuates the "mood and romance of train travel". The book chronicles Allen's travels across Canada by train and his encounters with passengers and crew.[15]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | A Cross Canada Railroad Memoir | ISBN 9780670884735 | ||
Nominees[15] | Drinking and Why It's Necessary | ISBN 9781554682560 | ||
Confessions of an Out-of-Step Boomer | ISBN 9780199744480 | |||
A Story of Fish and Love | ISBN 9781894673051 | |||
A Celebration of Country Life | ISBN 9781550416152 |
2003
Alison Watt is the winner of the 2003 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for The Last Island: A Naturalist Sojourn on Triangle Island.[16]
The Last Island is written in "diary form", recounting Watt's time on Triangle Island and her subsequent visit 16 years later. Watt returned to continue her research and Vallée's work.[16]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | A Naturalist Sojourn on Triangle Island | ISBN 9781550172966 | ||
Nominees[16] | Confessions of a Night-Time Taxi Driver | ISBN 9781550024029 | ||
On The Trail of the Yukon Quest | ISBN 9780141003733 | |||
A Memoir | ISBN 9781559706650 |
2004
Andrea Curtis has won the 2004 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Into the Blue: Family Secrets and the Search for a Great Lakes Shipwreck.[17]
Into the Blue sheds new light on a century-old shipwreck that happened on Georgian Bay in 1906. Curtis recounts family tales, her own research, and historical re-enactments, to write her narrative.[17]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Family Secrets and the Search for a Great Lakes Shipwreck | ISBN 9780679311355 | ||
Nominees[17] | The Rush for Northern Riches on Dene Land | ISBN 9780295984193 | ||
The Life and Art of Glenn Gould | ISBN 9780195182460 | |||
A Memoir | ISBN 9781550225501 | |||
A Lifetime of Paddling Arctic Rivers | ISBN 9781552632215 |
2005
Anne Coleman is the 2005 winner of the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for her memoir titled, I'll Tell You a Secret: a Memory of Seven Summers.[18]
I'll Tell you a Secret publishes the authors insight of her mentor and Canadian literary figure, Hugh MacLennan. The memoir is called "uncompromising".[18]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | a Memory of Seven Summers | ISBN 9780771022784 | ||
Nominees[18] | Life, Death and In-Between in an Intensive Care Unit | ISBN 9780771080876 | ||
Conjuring a Vineyard Three Thousand Miles from Burgundy | ISBN 9780771040566 | |||
One Woman’s Life on the Streets | ISBN 9781896300740 | |||
A Memoir | ISBN 9781550226768 |
2006
Francis Chalifour is the winner of the 2006 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for his autobiographical narrative: After.[19]
After is a "powerful and personal narrative" about a boy trying to make sense of his father's suicide and the changes it brought upon his life.[19]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | ISBN 9780887767050 | |||
Nominees[19] | ISBN 9781552636909 | |||
This is What an Abusive Relationship Can Look Like | ISBN 9780802170200 | |||
A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed | ISBN 9780393328646 | |||
How the Air-India Bombers Got Away with Murder | ISBN 9780771011306 |
2007
Linden MacIntyre wins the 2007 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for his memoir: Causeway: A Passage from Innocence.[20]
Causeway, recounts the construction of the Canso Causeway, which linked Cape Breton to the mainland Nova Scotia. The book is a "poignant reflection of a vanishing way of life" and "a narrative of a time and place on the cusp of change."[20]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | A Passage from Innocence | ISBN 9780002007245 | ||
Nominees[20] | A Journey into the Heart of Iran | ISBN 9780676977325 | ||
ISBN 9781897141113 | ||||
ISBN 9780973972702 |
2008
Bruce Serafin was awarded the 2008 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Stardust, a collection of essays. The presentation ceremony took place April 24, 2009 at Pulpfiction Books, in Vancouver, British Columbia.[21]
The essays in Stardust vary from the author's experiences as a post office employee to critiques on literary and intellectual stars such as Roland Barthes and Northrop Frye. "Stardust" is the title essay which offers a personal perspective on the counterculture of the late 1960s.[21]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | ISBN 9781554200337 | |||
Nominees[21] | The Second Battle of Ypres and the Forging of Canada, April 1915 | ISBN 9780002007276 | ||
Stephen Harper's Blind Date with Quebec | ISBN 9780676979077 | |||
A Woman in the RCMP | ISBN 9781897113684 |
2009
Russell Wangersky won the 2009 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for his memoir, Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself.[22]
Burning Down the House is a first hand account of Wangersky's career as a firefighter. The narrative is full of house fire tales, car wrecks, and a variety of other tragedies, Wangersky emotionally witnessed in his career. It is called "a powerful book that illuminates the darker natures of those whom we trust with our lives."[22]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Fighting Fires and Losing Myself | ISBN 9780887623295 | ||
Nominees[22] | Travels in the Rainforest of Panama | ISBN 9781550174212 | ||
A Memoir | ISBN 9781554700431 | |||
Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname | ISBN 9780771088759 |
2010
John Leigh Walters (the Ontario television personality Johnnie Walters) won the 2010 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for A Very Capable Life: The Autobiography of Zarah Petri. An award presentation was held at Wilfrid Laurier University's Waterloo campus.[23][24]
Walters "reshapes the autobiographical impulse by writing in the first-person voice of his mother, the sweetly acerbic Zarah Petri." Walters’ delivers an "engaging narration", making A Very Capable Life an "oral history" that imagines events yet to occur.[25]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | The Autobiography of Zarah Petri | ISBN 9781897425411 | ||
Nominees[26] | Journeys into the Soul of Canada | ISBN 9781553653080 | ||
A Zookeeper Explores the Behaviour and Emotional Life of Bears | ISBN 9781553653875 |
2011
Helen Waldstein Wilkes has won the 2011 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Letters from the Lost: A Memoir of Discovery. A presentation ceremony was held October 4 in the Senate and Board Chamber on the Waterloo campus.[27]
Helen Waldstein Wilkes opened a small box that her father saved, but never showed to her. It was a box of correspondence from family members unable to flee the impending peril of Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Reading the letters puts Waldstein Wilkes on a course of re-discovery; of her "lost" family, and the missing part of herself. Letters from the Lost weaves the correspondence into a "compelling narrative of what it means to be a Jew, a survivor and a family member without a family."[28]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | A Memoir of Discovery | ISBN 9781897425534 | ||
Nominees[27] | How Choosing to be Chosen Made Me a Better Man | ISBN 9781554684274 | ||
What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound | ISBN 9781550175141 |
2012
Joshua Knelman won the 2012 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives through the Secret World of Stolen Art. The award dinner and presentation was held November 13 in Waterloo.[29]
Hot Art is an "engrossing narrative" of Knelman's four-year investigation of international art theft. Knelman traveled to Cairo, New York, London, Montreal and Los Angeles to compile his report. He collaborated with a master thief, a lawyer with expertise in crimes involving art, and a detective dedicated to solving art crimes which often takes years of investigation. Knelman learns that only a small contingent is active battling this crime which amounts to unimaginable amounts of loss, both monetarily and culturally.[29]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Chasing Thieves and Detectives through the Secret World of Stolen Art | ISBN 9781553658917 | ||
Nominees[29] | Surviving My Medical Meltdown | ISBN 9781553656326 | ||
A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery | ISBN 9781554686490 |
2013
Carol Shaben won the 2013 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Into the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop. The award dinner and presentation was held November 13 in Waterloo.[30]
Into the Abyss is a stylishly written, fast-paced tale of redemption that’s more gripping and engaging than you might expect. Ute Lischke, award juror and Laurier professor of English and Film Studies.[30]
Year | Result | Author | Title | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop | ISBN 9780307360229 | ||
Nominees[30] | A Memoir of Extremes | ISBN 9781554688869 | ||
A Reporter’s Journey from Refugee Camp to the Arab Spring | ISBN 9780670069095 |
See also
References
- ↑ Faculty of Arts, Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, Wilfrid Laurier University, Award information, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 Faculty of Arts, 1991, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Susan Mayse, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, Goodwin, Albert (Ginger), 1911–1920 (Volume XIV), Retrieved 11/18/2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1992, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Marie Wadden, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 Faculty of Arts, 1993, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Liza Potvin, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 Faculty of Arts, 1993, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Elizabeth Hay, Retrieved November 20, 2012
- 1 2 Faculty of Arts, 1994, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University Previous winners, Linda Johns, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1995, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Denise Chong, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1996, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, George G. Blackburn, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1997, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Anne Mullens, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1998, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Charlotte Gray, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 1999, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Michael Poole, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2000, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Wayson Choy, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2001, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Taras Grescoe, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2002, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Tom Allen, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2003, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winner, Alison Watt, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2004, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Andrea Curtis, Retrieved November 17, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2005, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Anne Coleman, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2006, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Francis Chalifour, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2007, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Linden MacIntyre, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, March 20, 2009, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University Headlines (News Releases), Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, 2009, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Russell Wangersky, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- ↑ Faculty of Arts, November 10, 2010, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Headlines (Campus Updates), Retrieved November 16, 2012
- ↑ MacDonald, Scott, October 14, 2010, Kitchener author wins Edna Staebler Award, Quill & Quire, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- ↑ Faculty of Arts, 2010, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, John Leigh Walters, Retrieved 11/18/2012
- ↑ Faculty of Arts, September 13, 2010, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Headlines (News Releases), Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 Faculty of Arts, September 8, 2011, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Headlines (News Releases), Retrieved November 16, 2012
- ↑ Faculty of Arts, 2011, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Helen Waldstein Wilkes, Retrieved 11/18/2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, November 7, 2012, Edna Staebler Award,Wilfrid Laurier University, Headlines (News Releases), Retrieved November 16, 2012
- 1 2 3 Faculty of Arts, July 30, 2013, Edna Staebler Award.Wilfrid Laurier University. Headlines (News Releases). Retrieved December 3, 2013.
External links
- Faculty of Arts, About the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, Wilfrid Laurier University, Retrieved November 16, 2012
- Faculty of Arts, Past winners of the Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Retrieved November 16, 2012
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