Trillium Book Award Author Readings June 16

John Ibbitson wins Shaughnessy Cohen Political Writing Prize for Stephen Harper Biography

 
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Last night in Ottawa, the Writers’ Trust Presented John Ibbitson with the 16th annual $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his biography of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The prize honours the finest book of politically-relevant non-fiction published in the previous year.

Announced at the annual black tie Politics and the Pen fundraising gala at Ottawa’s Fairmont Château Laurier, Ibbitson's book was selected by jurors Tim Cook, a military historian, Robyn Doolittle, an author and Globe and Mail journalist, and Antonia Maioni, a McGill University professor and political commentator.

The jury praised Stephen Harper (Signal Editions) for shedding light on the man who ran Canada for nearly a decade but who had largely himself "remained a mystery". Lauding Ibbitson's "impressive access and meticulous research", the jury citation went on to describe the book as "the definitive picture to date of one of the most significant Prime Ministers in Canadian history".

Ibbitson is the Globe and Mail's writer-at-large, based in Ottawa. He has a storied career as a political journalist and has written three previous books of political analysis, which have been nominated for The Donner Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, The Trillium Book Award and many other honours.

The remaining finalists will each receive $2,500 in recognition of the excellence of their work. They are: Greg Donaghy, Norman Hillmer, Andrew Nikiforuk and Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize is sponsored by Aimia. The prize was established in honour of Shaughnessy Cohen, the outspoken and popular Member of Parliament from Windsor, Ontario.

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