Longlist announced For One of Canada's Largest Non-Fiction Prizes

The jury for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, one of Canada’s largest literary non-fiction prizes, has released its longlist of finalists for 2012.

One hundred and thirty-four books were nominated for the $40,000 prize by 35 publishers from across the country. From that entry, the prize jury has selected the following longlist of ten books.

Title	Author	Publisher
Afflictions & Departures	Madeline Sonik	Anvil Press
Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism	Joel Yanofsky	Viking Canada
Captivity: 118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War	James Loney	Knopf Canada
The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery	Andrew Westoll	HarperCollins Canada
Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone	Michelle Shephard	Douglas & McIntyre
Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe	Charlotte Gill	Greystone Books
Human Happiness	Brian Fawcett	Thomas Allen Publishers
The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy	Chris Turner	Random House Canada
Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times Volume Two: 1867-1891	Richard Gwyn	Random House Canada
Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter	Carmen Aguirre	Douglas & McIntyre

"We owe the jury a great debt of thanks for their hard work in arriving at this stimulating list of finalists," said Foundation Chair Keith Mitchell. "Canada's authors continue to inspire, engage, and enlighten and this year's nominated titles well reflect our tradition of truly remarkable literary non-fiction."

The finalists for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction will be announced December 5, 2011. The award presentation will take place on Feb. 6, 2012 in Vancouver.

The Foundation is also pleased to announce the jury for the 2012 British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

• Paul Whitney served as City Librarian at Vancouver Public Library until his retirement at the end of 2010. He currently consults and teaches on libraries, publishing, and related public policy issues.

• Patricia Graham was the editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Sun for eight years. In October, she became Vice President, Digital, for Pacific Newspaper Group, publishers of The Vancouver Sun and The Province.

• Shari Graydon is the author of two award-winning media literacy books for youth, the editor of I Feel Great About My Hands, and the catalyst of Informed Opinions, a project to bridge the gender gap in public discourse.

Previous winners for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction include:

• John Vaillant for The Tiger (2011)
• Ian Brown for The Boy in the Moon (2010)
• Russell Wangersky for Burning Down the House (2009)
• Lorna Goodison for From Harvey River (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)