Mark Critch memoir named to RBC Taylor Prize list
Memoirs about growing up in Newfoundland in the 1980s, travelling the Silk Road by bike and the pain of tending to elderly parents are among the 10 books named to the RBC Taylor Prize.
Mark Critch, anchor of CBC’S “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” earned a spot on the long list for the $25,000 non-fiction prize with his memoir about growing up in Newfoundland in the 1980s.
Jurors Camilla Gibb, Roy Macgregor and Beverley Mclachlin released their long list Wednesday for the Canadian non-fiction prize after a review of more than 100 books.
On the list are also works by Bill Gaston, Ian Hampton, Kate Harris, Elizabeth Hay, David Johnston, Allan Levine, Robert Lewis, Terese Marie Mailhot and Darrel Mcleod.
The judging panel says the books were “breathtaking in their range of topics,” and serve as a “barometer for current issues, from reconciliation to political trust.”
The short list for the Taylor Prize will be announced Jan. 9 and the winner will be named on March 4, 2019.
The prize was created in 1998 by the Charles Taylor Foundation and awards the winner with $25,000, plus $5,000 given to every finalist. The full long list is:
• “Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir,” by Mark Critch (Viking/penguin Canada);
• “Just Let Me Look at You: On Fatherhood,” by Bill Gaston (Hamish Hamilton/penguin Canada);
• “Jan in 35 Pieces: A Memoir in Music,” by Ian Hampton (Porcupine’s Quill);
• “Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Roads,” by Kate Harris (Knopf Canada);
• “All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir,” by Elizabeth Hay (Mcclelland & Stewart);
• “Trust: Twenty Ways to Build a Better Country,” by David Johnston (Signal/m&s);
• “Seeking the Fabled City: The Canadian Jewish Experience,” by Allan Levine (Mcclelland and Stewart);
• “Power, Prime Ministers and the Press: The Battle for Truth on Parliament Hill,” by Robert Lewis (Dundurn Press);
• “Heart Berries: A Memoir,” by Terese Marie Mailhot (Doubleday Canada);
• “Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age,” by Darrel Mcleod (Douglas & Macintyre).