CBC Books — along with our partners the Canada Council for the Arts, Air Canada's enRoute magazine and The Banff Centre — is pleased to announce the winner of the CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize.

The Grand Prize winner is Patti-Kay Hamilton of Fort Smith, NT. Her nonfiction story, "The Hunter and The Swan", was selected from more than 1,800 stories received from across the country. Congratulations Patti-Kay!

The jury for this year's prize was composed of writers Carolyn Abraham, Denise Chong, and David Macfarlane. They described her story as follows:

"Written with economy and a subtle pulse of drama, 'The Hunter and the Swan' vividly captures the raw beauty of the north. Its mood is meditative and its narrative taut, and yet, without ever losing its direction, its richness of information supports the writer's command of subject and confident authority."

Patti-Kay Hamilton was born in Sault Ste. Marie and grew up in Pembroke and Toronto. Upon graduating from the University of Guelph, she headed north where she got a job as a radio journalist at CBC North, working to share the stories of the northern people for more than 30 years. Since retiring three years ago, Hamilton has been published in Up Here Magazine and Coming Home, the first anthology of work by writers of the Northwest Territories.

The four runners-up for the CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize are Jennifer Clark (Calgary, AB) for "February," Brandee Eubank (New Brigden, AB) for "Some Distant World," Sarah Habben (St. Albert, AB) for "Where I Am From," and Patricia Webb (Port Moody, BC) for "Second Time Around." Each runner-up will receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts.

The French Grand Prize winner was also announced this morning. Joanne Morency of Marie, QC won the Prix du récit Radio-Canada for her story "Tes lunettes sans ton regard."