Rosemary Sullivan Wins the 2016 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 4, 2016) - British Columbia Achievement chair Keith Mitchell is pleased to announce that Rosemary Sullivan has won the 2016 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for "Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva."

Sullivan was presented with the $40,000 prize by Hon. Peter Fassbender, BC's Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development at a ceremony that also celebrated finalists John Ibbitson for Stephen Harper; Emily Urquhart for Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family, and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes; and Sheila Watt-Cloutier for The Right to be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet.

Now in its 12th year, British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction is one of Canada's major national book prizes and the only one to originate in B.C. The annual award is presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation established by the Province in 2003 to celebrate excellence in the arts, humanities, enterprise, and community service.

"The British Columbia Achievement Foundation has been honouring Canada's foremost non-fiction writers since 2005," said chair Keith Mitchell. "The 2016 finalists join a truly impressive group of 48 writers recognized by the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction program. Congratulations to Rosemary Sullivan and to all the finalists."

The 2016 jury panel members for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction were Anne Giardini, QC, Chancellor of Simon Fraser University; Richard Gwyn, columnist and writer; and Hal Wake, artistic director of the Vancouver Writers Fest.

The jury cited Stalin's Daughter as a "comprehensive biography delivering sharply observed and meticulously researched revelations about Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Josef Stalin. It provides unique insights, and deeply contributes to our understanding of many significant events of the past century."

Background information about British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction is available at www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction.

Detailed information about the awards and a list of past winners is posted on the foundation's website at www.bcachievement.com. The event can be followed on Twitter @bcachievement and #bcnationalaward.