Naomi Klein takes home Canada’s largest nonfiction literary prize

Monday, October 27, 2014

An unseasonably warm Tuesday evening. A dolled-up Art Gallery of Ontario.

A gala event underway to celebrate the announcement of the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, Canada’s largest award for nonfiction.

Five authors nervously awaiting to see who will win.

The contending books: tomes on the Arctic, cyberbullying, urban planning, the intertwining of politics and consumerism, and climate change.

The Hon. Hilary Weston takes the stage to announce the winner.

And the winner is

***drumroll***

Naomi Klein for This Changes Everything (Knopf Canada), a consideration and rethinking of the politically charged issue of climate change.

In accepting the award, Klein states, “I have to believe this is some kind of sign of the times that this happened. I don’t know what it means, but I feel like there is a deep desire for change in this country.”

With the win, Klein (an Access Copyright affiliate) receives $60,000 as well as a specially designed sculpture by artist Mark Raynes Roberts. The other finalists for the prize, Susan Delacourt, Charles Montgomery, Paula Todd and Kathleen Winter each receive $5,000.

More information on this year's Nonfiction Prize gala can be found here.