Thunder Bay's Charles Wilkins on 2014 Longlist RBC Taylor Prize

The RBC Taylor Prize, for non-fiction pays nicely at 25 thou for first place.  But even more important is the long list which gives avid readers of non fiction a survey of some of the best non-fiction books in Canada in 2013. Congratulation to all those hard working writers on the list although, I think it is safe to say, none worked as hard as Charlie Wilkins who rowed across the Atlantic on a wild seven-week -long voyage and along with an eccentric crew, who by some miracle did not drown or get swept away, lived to tell the tale.

The award pinpoints a work that "best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception." As a definition of a good book, this will do indeed.

Shortlist will be announced January 15 and winner March 10, 2014.


The Juggler's Children: A Journey into Family, Legend and the Genes that Bind Us by Carolyn Abraham.

The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial that Shocked a Century by Charlotte Gray.

Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary Janigan.

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King.

The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan.

How Architecture Works: A Humanist’s Toolkit by Witold Rybcynski.

The Dogs are Eating Them Now: Our War in AfghanistanT by Graeme Smith.

Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life by David Stouck.

Without Honour: The True Story of the Shafia Family and the Kingston Canal Murders by Ron Tripp.

Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter: Growing Up with a Gay Dad by Alison Wearing.

Little Ship of Fools: 16 Rowers, 1 Improbable Boat, 7 Tumultuous Weeks on the Atlantic by Charles Wilkins.