Speaker’s Book Award & Young Authors Award shortlists announced by Hon. Dave Levac

It's an excellent year for Dundurn Press, an independent publishing house in Toronto, on this year's Speaker's Book Award and Young Authors Award shortlists. They cornered an impressive six out of a possible 11 spots on the shortlists, including a nod for their bestselling biography of former Premiere Bill Davis by TVO personality Steve Paikin. Fellow indie presses Coach House Books and ECW Press also captured nominations, as well as Penguin Random House Canada and HarperCollins Canada.

The Honourable Dave Levac, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, announced both shortlists, marking the fifth anniversary of the prestigious prizes. Hon. Levac launched the prizes himself in 2012 to celebrate and promote excellence in political, historical, and cultural writing by Ontarians. The 2016 selection committee included the Speaker, Vicki Whitmell, Randall White, Lorrie Goldstein, Sid Noel, and Marilyn Churley. 

2016 Speaker’s Book Award Finalists

• Bill Davis: Nation Builder, and Not So Bland After All, Steve Paikin (Dundurn Press, 2016)
• Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo, Barbara Dickson (Dundurn Press, 2015)
• Dalton McGuinty: Making a Difference, Dalton McGuinty (Dundurn Press, 2015)
• The Duke of Kent: A Memoir, Darcy McKeough with Rod McQueen (ECW Press, 2016)
• Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve, Alexandra Shimo (Dundurn Press, 2016)
• The Red Kelly Story, Leonard “Red” Kelly with L. Waxy Gregoire and David M. Dupuis (ECW Press, 2016)
• Seasons of Hope: Memoirs of Ontario’s First Aboriginal Lieutenant Governor, James Bartleman (Dundurn Press, 2016)
• Subdivided: City-Building in an Age of Hyper-Diversity, Jay Pitter and John Lorinc – Editors (Coach House Books, 2016)

2016 Young Authors Award Finalists:

• Alone Against the North: An Expedition Into the Unknown, Adam Shoalts (Viking Canada/Penguin Canada, 2015)
• One Soldier: A Canadian Soldier’s Fight Against the Islamic State, Dillon Hillier with Russell Hillier (HarperCollins, 2016)
• Something Wiki, Suzanne Sutherland (Dundurn Press, 2015)

The winners of the 2016 prizes will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Ontario Legislative Building on March 6, 2017. Stay tuned to Open Book for news of the winners!