On Wednesday, January 9,
Darrel J. McLeod has been shortlisted for his book, Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age (Douglas & McIntyre). Mamaskatch also won the Governor General’s Award for English Non-Fiction in 2018.
The other four finalists include: Bill Gaston, a BC-based author, for Just Let Me Look at You: On Fatherhood (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Canada); Ian Hampton, Jan in 35 Pieces: A Memoir in Music (Porcupine’s Quill); Kate Harris, Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road (Knopf Canada); and Elizabeth Hay, All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir (McClelland & Stewart).
Darrel J. McLeod is Cree from treaty eight territory in Northern Alberta. Before deciding to pursue writing in his retirement, he was a chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. He holds degrees in French literature and Education from the University of British Columbia. He lives in Sooke, BC, and is working on a second memoir following the events in Mamaskatch. In the spring of 2018, he was accepted into the Banff Writing Studio to advance his first work of fiction.
The 2019 jury included Camilla Gibb, Roy MacGregor, and
The RBC Taylor Prize winner will be revealed at a gala luncheon in Toronto on Monday, March 4, 2019. Each of the shortlisted writers will receive $5,000, and the winner an additional $25,000. The winner will also select an emerging author to receive the $10,000 RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writers Award.
One reply on “Mamaskatch by Darrel J. McLeod shortlisted for 2019 RBC Taylor Prize”
McLeod is a fantastic author and is very deserving of this prize. It’s nice to see such creative minds being rewarded for their works.