Huffingtonpost Canada is proud to be a new sponsor of the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. Our readers can look forward to reading an excerpt from each of the five finalists, personally chosen by the authors themselves. After all the excerpts have run, Huffpost readers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite book in advance of the prize winner being announced on March 5 -- an event which we will livestream.
You can read the first excerpt, from Andrew Westoll's "The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary."
The next excerpt, from Charlotte Gill's Eating Dirt, will be posted this Thursday.
Keep watching this spot for news of the others, and information on when it's time to vote!
Find out more about the nominees.
Charles Taylor Prize 2012: Presenting Excerpts From The Finalists-from-mt-207290
Wade Davis - Into The Silence(01 of05)
Open Image ModalFrom the jury: "In this monumental volume, Wade Davis narrates explorer George Mallory's heroic attempt to scale Everest following the Great War. With remarkable new research in previously unexplored British archives and in the Himalayas, Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest powerfully links the devastating carnage and demoralization of the War to the transcendent aspiration of Mallory and his compatriots to ascend Everest. With skill and insight, Davis explores the meaning of this valorous yet tragic climb for post-war Britain and the world."(Ryan Hill Photo) (credit:Ryan Hill)
Charlotte Gill -Eating Dirt(02 of05)
Open Image ModalFrom the jury: "Only a writer as skilled as Charlotte Gill could make the back-breaking work of planting more than a million seedlings sound like one of life's essential adventures. In a carefully balanced story of science, business and friendship, and one that is surprisingly unsentimental, Gill shares her love for Canada's boreal forests, the tragedy of their disappearances and the grueling work involved in replacing them. Reader, you might finish this book feeling relieved you don't plant trees - but you will be wishing you could."Kevin Turpin Photo
J J Lee - The Measure Of A Man(03 of05)
Open Image ModalFrom the jury: "As an experienced radio current affairs producer, JJ Lee knew what it took to make a good story though he never expected his own life to end up in a book. The Measure of a Man, Lee's account of trying to remake one of his late father's old suits into one for himself, began as a CBC Radio documentary. An editor suggested it would make a good book. She was right. Beautifully crafted, Lee's memoir is a heartbreaking page-turner about a family, an abusive father, and men's fashion. Who could have thought these themes could work together? In his first book, Lee has shown us how."(Melissa Stephens Photo)
Madeline Sonik - Afflictions and Departures(04 of05)
Open Image ModalFrom the jury: "Startlingly original, Madeline Sonik's moving story of her childhood defies all our expectations of memoir. She captures crystalline moments of childhood memory and links them in a daisy-chain with corresponding events of the tumultuous societal change taking place outside her home. It is North America in the 1960s and 70s and her letter-perfect, child's-eye view of the world brings back that time with such intensity that the reader can almost smell and taste it. Droll, tragic, and absolutely compelling, Afflictions and Departures is a visceral portrayal of a family imploding."
Andrew Westoll - The Chimps Of Fauna Sanctuary(05 of05)
Open Image Modal