Hilary Weston Prize for NonFiction Series: 7 Things You Need to Know About Kathleen Winter's Boundless
Submitted by Grace on October 13, 2014 - 9:49am
With just one day until the announcement of the country's top non-fiction award, we conclude our special series celebrating the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, with seven talking points from Kathleen Winter's journey through the high Arctic, Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage (House of Anansi Press). Boundless is Winter's newest book following the publication of her bestselling novel Annabel, which was nominated for every major fiction prize in Canada.
Our new series with the Writers' Trust, The Hilary Weston Prize Dinner-party Digestible: 7 Things You Need to Know, features seven fascinating facts about and related to each title nominated for this year's Weston Prize. Consider this an appetizer to the book's full feast, whetting your appetite for great reading.
The jury's praise for Boundless seemed, well, pretty boundless itself: "Boundless opens our minds and senses, and enriches our spiritual connection to ourselves through nature. This quirky, eloquent paean to the land blesses readers with its bounty."
Stay tuned to Open Book for the announcement of the winner after Tuesday evening's prize event, and if you're looking to lay your bets, or simply to be in the know about the season's finest non-fiction, be sure to check out the postings for the other finalists: Susan Delacourt, Naomi Klein, Paula Todd and Charles Montgomery.
7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT… Kathleen Winter's Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage
- Expeditions to Canada’s north will often have artists in residence on board.
- When a man named Noah suggests you board a ship, you do it.
- It is impossible to read Boundless without listening to “Northwest Passage” by Stan Rogers at least once. (You can do it right now, right here)
- Polar bears have started mating with grizzly bears, which has created a whole new species: “grolar bears.”
- Nearly every landmark or settlement along the Northwest Passage has two names: one given by colonial explorers, the other linked to Inuit history.
- A Helly Hansen raincoat patched with duct tape can be an unexpected conversation starter with a mysterious northern man.
- A beer cooler will, in a pinch, make an excellent travel case for a concertina.
The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction has rapidly become the preeminent Canadian non-fiction award, with shortlists featuring Canada's finest non-fiction writers, including authors such as Richard Gwyn, Thomas King, Graeme Smith and many more. The winner of the prize receives $60,000, while finalists receive $5,000. The 2014 winner will be announced at an event in Toronto next week on October 14.
