Longlist Announced for BC's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, One of Canada's Largest Book Prizes

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Nov. 1, 2016) - The jury for the 13^th Annual BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, one of Canada's leading literary non-fiction prizes, has selected its longlist for 2017.

Over 140 books by 46 publishers were nominated for the $40,000 prize from across the country. The prize jury has selected the following longlist of 10 books.

title		author		publisher
A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War		Deborah Campbell		Alfred A. Knopf Canada Penguin Random House Canada Ltd
Tomboy Survival Guide		Ivan Coyote		Arsenal Pulp Press
Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story		Matti Friedman		Signal McClelland & Stewart
Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love and International Intrigue on the Eve of the Second World War		Taras Grescoe		Harper Avenue HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies		Ross King		Bond Street Books Penguin Random House Canada Ltd
A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices		Sandra Martin		Patrick Crean Editions HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
On Trails: An Exploration		Robert Moor		Simon & Schuster
Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World		Marc Raboy		Oxford University Press
This is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison, and Other Complications		Diane Schoemperlen		HarperAvenue HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve		Alexandra Shimo		Dundurn Press

The BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction will announce its shortlist in December and the award will be presented in Vancouver in early 2017.

The jury for the 2017 Award comprises:

Hal Wake, Jury Chair, Artistic Director of the Vancouver Writers Fest and a member of granting juries for Canada Council, BC Arts Council and the City of Vancouver.

Jan Walter, editor, publishing executive, bookseller and former Chair of the Kingston WritersFest Board.

John Burns, journalist, editor, publisher and current editorial director of Echo Storytelling Agency in Vancouver.

"This year's lineup of Canadian non-fiction titles continues a strong tradition of excellence among our national writers," said BC Achievement Foundation chair Keith Mitchell. "Our thanks to the jury for their efforts in selecting the 2017 longlist."

Previous winners of the BC Award include:

• Rosemary Sullivan for Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva (2015)
• Karyn L. Freedman for One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery (2015)
• Thomas King for The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (2014)
• Modris Eksteins for Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery and the Crisis of Truth in the Modern Age (2013)
• Charlotte Gill for Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with The Tree-Planting Tribe (2012)
• John Vaillant for The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (2011)
• Ian Brown for The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for His Disabled Son (2010)
• Russell Wangersky for Burning Down the House (2009)
• Lorna Goodison for From Harvey River: A Memory of My Mother and Her People (2008)
• Noah Richler for This Is My Country, What's Yours? (2007)
• Rebecca Godfrey for Under the Bridge (2006)
• Patrick Lane for There Is a Season (2005)

The BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction is presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of British Columbia in 2003 to celebrate excellence in the arts, humanities, enterprise and community service. This is the 13th year in which the award will be presented.

For more information on BC's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and on submission guidelines, please visit www.bcachievement.com.