The holidays have come early for non-fiction lovers, political junkies and policy wonks, with the release of the 2015 Speaker's Book Award shortlist. Presented by Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Dave Levac, the Speaker’s Book Award aims to bring awareness to books written by Ontarians covering historical, regional, cultural, or parliamentary aspects of the province.
The award, now in its fourth year, gives special consideration to works focusing on Ontario’s parliamentary heritage and on provincial political discourse.
The list includes a strong small press presence, with six of the ten finalists being published by independent Ontario presses Between the Lines, Dundurn Press and Coach House Books, a press which recently enjoyed a massive victory as publisher of the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis. Also represented on the list are academic publisher University of Toronto Press and trade publisher Penguin Random House Canada.
2015 Finalists for the Speaker's Book Award:
Shameless: The Fight for Adoption Disclosure and the Search for My Son by Marilyn Churley (Between the Lines, 2015)
The New Urban Agenda: The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area by Bill Freeman (Dundurn Press, 2015)
Comparing Quebec and Ontario: Political Economy and Public Policy at the Turn of the Millennium by Rodney Haddow (University of Toronto Press, 2015)
Lunch-Bucket Lives: Remaking the Workers’ City by Craig Heron (Between the Lines, 2015)
The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood, John Lorinc, Michael McClelland by Ellen Scheinberg and Tatum Taylor (Editors) (Coach House Books, 2015)
Up Ghost River: A Chief’s Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History by Edmund Metatawabin with Alexandra Shimo (Alfred A. Knopf Canada/Penguin-Random House Canada, 2014)
The Court of Appeal for Ontario: Defining the Right of Appeal, 1792-2013 by Christopher Moore (University of Toronto Press, 2014)
Creating Colonial Pasts: History, Memory and Commemoration in Southern Ontario, 1860-1980 by Cecilia Morgan (University of Toronto Press, 2015)
Nipissing: Historic Waterway, Wilderness Playground by Françoise Noël (Dundurn Press, 2015)
The Battlefield of Ontario Politics: An Autobiography by Greg Sorbara (Dundurn Press, 2015)
The winning entry will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Ontario Legislative Building on March 7th, 2016. Stay tuned to Open Book for news of the winner!
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