Discover exceptional Canadian writers and writing for your to-read pile

Writers & Books

Each of these authors has benefitted from Writers' Trust awards or programs.

Awards

Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction

2025

Finalists

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

Omar El Akkad

The Snag: A Mother, A Forest, and Wild Grief

The Snag: A Mother, A Forest, and Wild Grief

Tessa McWatt

The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse: A Memoir

The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse: A Memoir

Vinh Nguyen

Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead

Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

A Truce That Is Not Peace

A Truce That Is Not Peace

Miriam Toews

2024

Winner

There Is No Blue

There Is No Blue

Martha Baillie

Martha Baillie

Finalists

Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir

Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir

Chase Joynt

Here After: A Memoir

Here After: A Memoir

Amy Lin

Invisible Prisons: Jack Whalen’s Tireless Fight for Justice

Invisible Prisons: Jack Whalen’s Tireless Fight for Justice

Lisa Moore

and

Jack Whalen

Everything and Nothing At All: Essays

Everything and Nothing At All: Essays

Jenny Heijun Wills

2023

Winner

Ordinary Notes

Ordinary Notes

Christina Sharpe

Christina Sharpe

Finalists

My Road from Damascus: A Memoir

My Road from Damascus: A Memoir

Jamal Saeed

Translated by

Catherine Cobham

Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls

Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls

Angela Sterritt

Ordinary Wonder Tales: Essays

Ordinary Wonder Tales: Essays

Emily Urquhart

Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast

Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast

John Vaillant

2022

Winner

The Invisible Siege: The Rise of Coronaviruses and the Search for a Cure

The Invisible Siege: The Rise of Coronaviruses and the Search for a Cure

Dan Werb

Dan Werb

Finalists

The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change

The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change

Geoff Dembicki

Nothing Will Be Different: A Memoir

Nothing Will Be Different: A Memoir

Tara McGowan-Ross

The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging

The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging

Debra Thompson

Making Love with the Land

Making Love with the Land

Joshua Whitehead

2021

Winner

Permanent Astonishment: A Memoir

Permanent Astonishment: A Memoir

Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway

Finalists

NISHGA

NISHGA

Jordan Abel

On Foot to Canterbury: A Son's Pilgrimage

On Foot to Canterbury: A Son's Pilgrimage

Ken Haigh

Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity, A Memoir

Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity, A Memoir

Darrel J. McLeod

Disorientation: Being Black in the World

Disorientation: Being Black in the World

Ian Williams

2020

Winner

Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts

Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts

Jessica J Lee

Jessica J Lee

Finalists

Through the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats)

Through the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats)

Lorna Crozier

Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos

Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos

Steven Heighton

Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Tessa McWatt

The Way Home

The Way Home

David A Neel

2019

Winner

Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir

Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir

Jenny Heijun Wills

Jenny Heijun Wills

Finalists

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

Alicia Elliott

Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person

Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person

Anna Mehler Paperny

All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward

All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward

Tanya Talaga

The Art of Leaving: A Memoir

The Art of Leaving: A Memoir

Ayelet Tsabari

2018

Winner

All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir

All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir

Elizabeth Hay

Elizabeth Hay

Finalists

Antigone Undone: Juliette Binoche, Anne Carson, Ivo Van Hove, and the Art of Resistance

Antigone Undone: Juliette Binoche, Anne Carson, Ivo Van Hove, and the Art of Resistance

Will Aitken

Heart Berries: A Memoir

Heart Berries: A Memoir

Terese Marie Mailhot

In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front

In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front

Judi Rever

The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family

The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family

Lindsay Wong

2017

Winner

Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine

Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine

James Maskalyk

James Maskalyk

Finalists

Tomboy Survival Guide

Tomboy Survival Guide

Ivan Coyote

Birds Art Life

Birds Art Life

Kyo Maclear

All We Leave Behind: A Reporter’s Journey into the Lives of Others

All We Leave Behind: A Reporter’s Journey into the Lives of Others

Carol Off

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City

Tanya Talaga

2016

Winner

A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War

A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War

Deborah Campbell

Deborah Campbell

Finalists

Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty-First Year: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty-First Year: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

Ian Brown

Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story

Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story

Matti Friedman

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies

Ross King

Red Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary

Red Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary

Sonja Larsen

2015

Winner

Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva

Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva

Rosemary Sullivan

Rosemary Sullivan

Finalists

Tell It to the World: International Justice and the Secret Campaign to Hide Mass Murder in Kosovo

Tell It to the World: International Justice and the Secret Campaign to Hide Mass Murder in Kosovo

Eliott Behar

Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-Lucent

Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-Lucent

Douglas Coupland

Empire of Deception: From Chicago to Nova Scotia – The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation

Empire of Deception: From Chicago to Nova Scotia – The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation

Dean Jobb

Cease: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Desire

Cease: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Desire

Lynette Loeppky

2014

Winner

This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. the Climate

This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. the Climate

Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein

Finalists

Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them

Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them

Susan Delacourt

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Charles Montgomery

Extreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies and Predators Online

Extreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies and Predators Online

Paula Todd

Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage

Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage

Kathleen Winter

2013

Winner

The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan

The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan

Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith

Finalists

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

Thomas King

The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be

The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be

J.B. MacKinnon

This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla

This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla

Andrew Steinmetz

Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother

Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother

Priscila Uppal

2012

Winner

A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape

A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape

Candace Savage

Candace Savage

Finalists

Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

Kamal Al-Solaylee

Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the crisis of Truth in the Modern Age

Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the crisis of Truth in the Modern Age

Modris Eksteins

Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile

Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile

Taras Grescoe

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit

JJ Lee

2011

Winner

Mordecai: The Life & Times

Mordecai: The Life & Times

Charles Foran

Charles Foran

Finalists

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe

Charlotte Gill

Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891

Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891

Richard Gwyn

Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound

Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound

Grant Lawrence

Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live

Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live

Ray Robertson

2010

Winner

What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past

What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past

James FitzGerald

James FitzGerald

Finalists

Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven

Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven

Ross King

Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me

Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me

Sarah Leavitt

The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma: An Exploration into How Life Organizes and Supports Itself

The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma: An Exploration into How Life Organizes and Supports Itself

John and Mary Theberge

The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das

The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das

Merrily Weisbord

2009

Winner

Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life

Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life

Brian Brett

Brian Brett

Finalists

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Wade Davis

Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds

Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds

Trevor Herriot

The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships

The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships

Erika Ritter

The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece

The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece

Eric Siblin

2008

Winner

Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood

Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood

Taras Grescoe

Taras Grescoe

Finalists

Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting

Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting

Carl Honoré

Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City

Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City

Mark Kingwell

The Gift of Thanks: The Roots, Persistence and Paradoxical Meanings of a Social Ritual

The Gift of Thanks: The Roots, Persistence and Paradoxical Meanings of a Social Ritual

Margaret Visser

Burning Down the House: Fighting Fire and Losing Myself

Burning Down the House: Fighting Fire and Losing Myself

Russell Wangersky

2007

Winner

Kasztner’s Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the Holocaust

Kasztner’s Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the Holocaust

Anna Porter

Anna Porter

Finalists

The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History

The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History

Katherine Ashenburg

The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture

The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture

Tim Bowling

Fortune’s a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest America

Fortune’s a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest America

Barry Gough

God’s Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery

God’s Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery

Douglas Hunter

2006

Winner

The Book of Revenge: A Blues for Yugoslavia

The Book of Revenge: A Blues for Yugoslavia

Dragan Todorovic

Dragan Todorovic

Finalists

Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell

Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell

Charlotte Gray

Ride the Rising Wind: One Woman’s Journey Across Canada

Ride the Rising Wind: One Woman’s Journey Across Canada

Barbara Kingscote

This is My Country, What’s Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada

This is My Country, What’s Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada

Noah Richler

Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest

Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest

Rudy Wiebe

2005

Winner

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed

John Vaillant

John Vaillant

Finalists

Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk

Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk

Rebecca Godfrey

Race Against Time

Race Against Time

Stephen Lewis

Dead Man in Paradise

Dead Man in Paradise

J.B. MacKinnon

2004

Winner

The Second Tree: Of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality

The Second Tree: Of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality

Elaine Dewar

Elaine Dewar

Finalists

Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-City Shantytown

Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-City Shantytown

Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall

Jacob’s Wound: A Search for the Spirit of Wildness

Jacob’s Wound: A Search for the Spirit of Wildness

Trevor Herriot

There Is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden

There Is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden

Patrick Lane

The Last Heathen: Encounters With Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia

The Last Heathen: Encounters With Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia

Charles Montgomery

2003

Winner

Virtual Clearcut: Or, the Way Things Are in My Hometown

Virtual Clearcut: Or, the Way Things Are in My Hometown

Brian Fawcett

Brian Fawcett

Finalists

Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages

Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages

Mark Abley

If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground

If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground

J. Edward Chamberlin

Sahara: A Natural History

Sahara: A Natural History

Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle

The End of Elsewhere: Travels Among the Tourists

The End of Elsewhere: Travels Among the Tourists

Taras Grescoe

2002

Winner

Houseboat Chronicles: Notes from a Life in Shield Country

Houseboat Chronicles: Notes from a Life in Shield Country

Jake MacDonald

Jake MacDonald

Finalists

The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die

The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die

Katherine Ashenburg

A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle

A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle

Andrew Clark

Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign

Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign

Marni Jackson

A Promise of Salt

A Promise of Salt

Lorie Miseck

2001

Winner

Time Lord

Time Lord

Clark Blaise

Clark Blaise

Finalists

As Near to Heaven by Sea

As Near to Heaven by Sea

Kevin Major

The Mummy Congress

The Mummy Congress

Heather Pringle

Jane Austen

Jane Austen

Carol Shields

The Taste of Metal: A Deserter’s Story

The Taste of Metal: A Deserter’s Story

Jack Todd

2000

Winner

Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History

Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History

Erna Paris

Erna Paris

Finalists

Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus

Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus

Donald Harman Akenson

The Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers and the Shaping of the World

The Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers and the Shaping of the World

Hugh Brody

Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec

Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec

Taras Grescoe

Out of Poverty: And into Something More Comfortable

Out of Poverty: And into Something More Comfortable

John Stackhouse

1999

Winner

Walking Since Daybreak

Walking Since Daybreak

Modris Eksteins

Modris Eksteins

Finalists

A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World

A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World

Robert Bringhurst

History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction

History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction

Jacalyn Duffin

After Daniel: A Suicide Survivor’s Tale

After Daniel: A Suicide Survivor’s Tale

Moira Farr

Baltimore’s Mansion: A Memoir

Baltimore’s Mansion: A Memoir

Wayne Johnston

1998

Winner

Stolen Life: A Journey of a Cree Woman

Stolen Life: A Journey of a Cree Woman

Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson

Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson

Finalists

Isaiah Berlin: A Life

Isaiah Berlin: A Life

Michael Ignatieff

Progeny of Ghosts: Travels in Russia and the Old Empire

Progeny of Ghosts: Travels in Russia and the Old Empire

David Manicom

The Follow

The Follow

Linda Spalding

The Circus at the Edge of the Earth

The Circus at the Edge of the Earth

Charles Wilkins

1997

Winner

Small Mercies: A Boy After War

Small Mercies: A Boy After War

Ernest Hillen

Ernest Hillen

Finalists

Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King

Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King

Charlotte Gray

Power in the Blood: Land, Memory, and a Southern Family

Power in the Blood: Land, Memory, and a Southern Family

John Bentley Mays

Flowers on My Grave

Flowers on My Grave

Ruth Teichroeb

Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood

Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood

Eileen Whitfield