The finalists for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction
CBC Books | Posted: October 3, 2018 11:00 AM | Last Updated: October 3, 2018
Here are the finalists for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction.
The Governor General's Literary Awards are one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious prizes. The awards, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are given in seven English-language categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature — text, young people's literature — illustration, drama and translation. Seven French-language awards are also given out in the same categories.
Each winner receives $25,000. The winners will be announced on Oct. 30, 2018.
Dead Reckoning by Carys Cragg
Dead Reckoning chronicles what happened when Carys Cragg decided to confront her father's murderer. When Cragg was just 11 years old, her father was stabbed to death in his home. Two decades later, Cragg began a two-year correspondence with the man convicted of murdering him. The letters answered questions that Cragg had agonized over throughout her life and revealed startling new information about her father's death.
The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam
In The Wife's Tale, Aida Edemariam records her grandmother Yetemegnu's long and storied life in Ethiopia. Yetemegnu was born in Gondar, married to an ambitious man before the age of 10 and grew into a spiritual and resilient woman. Over the stretch of her 97 years, Yetemegnu raised a family through violent fascist regimes, civil war and revolution.
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
Heart Berries is a moving memoir about a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island reserve in British Columbia. Mailhot has a difficult childhood, growing up with an activist mother and an abusive and alcoholic father, before being accepted to the Masters of Fine Art program at Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico. Her story continues as she comes to terms with her own mental illness and commits herself to a psychiatric institution. Heart Berries is also a finalist for the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
Mamaskatch by Darrel J. McLeod
Darrel McLeod's Mamaskatch is a memoir of his upbringing in Smith, Alta., raised by his fierce Cree mother, Bertha. McLeod describes vivid memories of moose stew and wild peppermint tea, surrounded by siblings and cousins. From his mother, McLeod learned to be proud of his heritage and also shares her fractured stories from surviving the residential school system.
Homes by Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung
Homes is a memoir of Abu Bakr al Rabeeah's childhood in Iraq and Syria. Just before civil war broke out, the al Rabeeah family left Iraq for safety in Homs, Syria. al Rabeeah was 10 years old when the violence began in his new home. He remembers attacks on his mosque and school, car bombings and firebombs. Now a high school student in Edmonton, Alta., al Rabeeah shares his story with writer Winnie Yeung in hopes it will bring greater understanding of Syria.