The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer.
Sponsorship history First established in 1997, the award's original corporate sponsor was Viacom. Pearson Canada, the regional branch of an educational book publishing company, took over the award in 1999, and Nereus Financial, a stock brokerage, became the sponsor from 2006 to 2008. After Nereus dropped its sponsorship, the award had no corporate sponsor until 2011,"Nominees for Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction announced" . National Post, September 20, 2011. when Hilary Weston (a philanthropist and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario) was announced as the award's new sponsor."Writers' Trust non-fiction prize bumped up to $60,000" . The Globe and Mail, May 11, 2011.
Canada's most lucrative non-fiction prize, the winner receives a cash sum of and all finalists receive .M.A. Orthofer, "Writers' Trust of Canada Prize for Non-Fiction " , complete review, 26 October 2011. Prior to Weston's patronage of the award, the prize would consist for the winner and for the finalists.
Nominees and winners +Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction winners and finalistsYearAuthorTitleResultRef.1997Small Mercies: A Boy After WarWinner"Literary Prizes Awarded". Ottawa Citizen, January 20, 1998.Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King Finalist "Govier takes Engel prize". The Globe and Mail, November 20, 1997.Power in the Blood: Land, Memory, and a Southern FamilyFlowers on My GravePickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood1998 and Yvonne JohnsonStolen Life: The Journey of a Cree WomanWinnerVal Ross, "Writers awarded $10,000 prizes". The Globe and Mail, January 19, 1999.Isaiah Berlin: A Life Finalist "Butala wins Engel prize". The Globe and Mail, November 20, 1998.Progeny of Ghosts: Travels in Russia and the Old Empire1999Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II and the Heart of our CenturyWinner Aida Edamariam, "Toronto historian, Calgary novelist honoured by their peers: Writers' trust awards". National Post, March 30, 2000. Finalist "Nominations announced". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 2000.History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short IntroductionAfter Daniel: A Suicide Survivor's TaleBaltimore's Mansion: A Memoir2000Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and HistoryWinner"Writers' Trust awards named: Prizes mark Canadian achievements". Sudbury Star, March 6, 2001.Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus Finalist "Finalists named for Writer's Trust prizes". Niagara Falls Review, February 3, 2001.Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through QuebecOut of Poverty: And into Something More Comfortable2001Time LordWinner Judy Stoffman, "Seven authors win big prizes; Levine, Blaise, Hay among those honoured in T.O.". Toronto Star, March 6, 2002.As Near to Heaven by Sea Finalist "Double nominations in Writers' Trust awards". The Telegram, February 17, 2002.Jane Austen2002Houseboat Chronicles: Notes from a Life in Shield CountryWinner "Manitoulin author among award winners". Sault Star, March 8, 2003. Finalist "Finalists named for Writers' Trust Awards". The Globe and Mail, February 12, 2003.Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign2003Virtual Clearcut, or The Way Things Are in My HometownWinner Anne-Marie Tobin, "Writers from across Canada receive literary awards". The Western Star, March 6, 2004.Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages Finalist Judy Stoffman, "Overlooked books make shortlist". Toronto Star, February 4, 2004.If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground and Sheila HirtleSahara: A Natural History2004Winner Judy Stoffman, "Engel 'knocked out' by honour; Sleuth writer cops Matt Cohen prize Seven, in all, feted by Writers Trust". Toronto Star, March 10, 2005.Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-City Shantytown Finalist "Munro, Newman among finals for literary awards". Peterborough Examiner, February 5, 2005.Jacob's Wound: A Search for the Spirit of WildnessThere is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden2005Winner "Joseph Boyden, John Vaillant glean Writers' Trust Awards". Sault Star, March 2, 2006.Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk Finalist "Crummey in running for national prize". The Telegram, February 3, 2006.Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged AfricaDead Man in Paradise2006Winner "N.L. writer's 'Inside' wins fiction prize". Telegraph-Journal, March 8, 2007. Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell Finalist Pat Donnelly, "Hage, Behrens face off again". Montreal Gazette, February 8, 2007.Ride the Rising Wind: One Woman's Journey Across CanadaThis is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of CanadaOf This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest2007Kasztner's Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the HolocaustWinner James Adams, "Lawrence Hill, Anna Porter win Writers' Trust Awards". The Globe and Mail, April 2, 2008. Finalist "Writer's Trust contenders named". Harbour City Star, March 1, 2008.Fortune's a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest AmericaGod's Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery2008Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing SeafoodWinner Mark Medley, "Winnipeg novelist wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize; Miriam Toews takes $25,000 award for her road-trip story The Flying Troutmans". Winnipeg Free Press, November 18, 2008.Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting Finalist "Who's in the running for some of this year's big awards". Montreal Gazette, October 25, 2008.Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the CityBurning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself2009Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural LifeWinner Mark Medley, "Ontario-born B.C. writer Annabel Lyon wins fiction prize for The Golden Mean". CanWest News Service, November 24, 2009. Finalist "Munro, Coupland on fiction shortlist for Writer's Trust prizes". Edmonton Journal, October 1, 2009.Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds2010What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the PastWinner Mark Medley, "Emma Donoghue wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize". Vancouver Sun, November 3, 2010.Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven Finalist John Barber, "Emma Donoghue, Kathleen and Michael Winter among finalists for Writers' Trust". The Globe and Mail, September 29, 2010.Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother and Me and Mary Theberge2011Mordecai: The Life & TimesWinner Mark Medley, "Patrick deWitt wins Writers' Trust Fiction Prize". Postmedia News, November 2, 2011.Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe Finalist Mark Medley, "Non-fiction award has words from a new sponsor; Finalists revealed; $80,000 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize". National Post, September 21, 2011.Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nudist Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation SoundWhy Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live2012WinnerIntolerable: A Memoir of Extremes Finalist Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the Crisis of Truth in the Modern AgeStraphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile2013Winner Mark Medley, "Afghan war memoir honoured; Smith wins Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction". Vancouver Sun, October 22, 2013. Finalist Paul Irish, "Writers' Trust releases nonfiction short list: Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian makes list of five". Toronto Star, September 19, 2013. This Great Escape: The Case of Michael ParylaProjection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother2014This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the ClimateWinner Deborah Dundas, "Naomi Klein wins Hilary Weston prize". Toronto Star, October 15, 2014.Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them Finalist Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban DesignExtreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies, and Predators OnlineBoundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage2015Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana AlliluyevaWinnerTell it to the World: International Justice and the Secret Campaign to Hide Mass Murder in Kosovo Finalist Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-LucentEmpire of Deception: From Chicago to Nova Scotia – The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the NationCease: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Desire2016WinnerSixty: A Diary of My Sixty-First Year: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? Finalist "Ian Brown, Ross King among finalists for Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". Canadian Press, September 28, 2016.Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's StoryMad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water LiliesRed Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary2017Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency MedicineWinnerTomboy Survival Guide Finalist Birds Art Life: A Field Guide to the Small and SignificantAll We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of OthersSeven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City2018All Things Consoled: A Daughter's MemoirWinner "Kathy Page, Elizabeth Hay among Writers' Trust winners". Toronto Sun, November 8, 2018.Antigone Undone: Juliette Binoche, Anne Carson, Ivo Van Hove, and the Art of Resistance Finalist "Writers' Trust to hand out total $260,000 in prizes for literary excellence". National Post, November 7, 2018.Heart BerriesIn Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front2019Older Sister. Not Necessarily RelatedWinner Finalist Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First PersonAll Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward2020Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts in Search of My Family's PastWinnerThrough the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats) Finalist Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on LesvosShame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging2021Permanent AstonishmentWinnerNishga Finalist On Foot to CanterburyPeyakowDisorientation2022Winner Finalist Nothing Will Be Different: A MemoirMaking Love with the Land2023Ordinary NotesWinnerNicole Thompson, "Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel". Toronto Star, November 21, 2023.My Road from Damascus Finalist Brad Wheeler, "Shortlist for $75,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction includes past winner John Vaillant, scholar Christina Sharpe". The Globe and Mail, September 20, 2023.Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and GirlsOrdinary Wonder TalesFire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World2024 There Is No Blue Winner "Sheung-King, Martha Baillie among Writers' Trust literary prize winners". CBC Books, November 19, 2017. Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir Finalist "5 Canadian titles make shortlist for $75K Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". CBC Books, September 18, 2024. Here After , Jack Whalen Invisible Prisons: Jack Whalen’s Tireless Fight for Justice Everything and Nothing At All2025 Theory of Water Winner Cassandra Drudi, "Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Maria Reva, Roza Nozari among Writers’ Trust award winners". Quill & Quire, November 13, 2025. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This Shortlist "5 Canadian titles make shortlist for $75K Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". CBC Books, September 12, 2025. The Snag The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse A Truce That is Not Peace2026 Decadence Shortlist In Trees Black Bear We Survived the Night Our Wild Familiars
Weston International Award