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MONTREAL, September 25, 2019 – CBC BOOKS , CBC’s online home for literary content, together with its partners the Canada Council for the Arts and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, today announced the winner of the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize.
Jenny Boychuk of Victoria wins the grand prize for Slow Violence. The story was selected from more than 2200 works received from across the country. You can read Slow Violence at CBCBooks.ca.
As grand-prize winner, Boychuk will receive $6000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and her story will be published on CBC Books. She will also receive a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity .
The jury was composed of writers Harold R. Johnson , Elizabeth Renzetti and Mark Sakamoto , who said:
“Slow Violence draws the reader into a world in which the desire for revenge is lost to the healing power of mercy. As is almost always the case, the perpetrator is a victim and his victim, also a perpetrator. This is a beautifully written story of grace. It is a story we all need.”
Jenny Boychuk is a poet and writer living in Victoria. Her poems and essays have appeared in publications across Canada and the United States, including: Best New Poets, The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, PRISM international, Room, The Fiddlehead, Grain, Copper Nickel, and elsewhere. She won the 2018 Copper Nickel Editors' Prize in Poetry and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan Helen Zell Writers' Program.
CBC Books also announced Francis Ouellette as the winner of the French grand prize this morning for Berce-toi Raymonde. For more information, go to ICI.Radio-canada.ca/icionlit under the “Prix du récit” tab.
The four runners-up for the CBC Nonfiction Prize, each receiving $1000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, areLarry Gibbs (Guelph, Ontario) for The Boondock Harvest 1966, Kathleen May de Vries (Huntsville, Ontario.) for The Long Driveway,Tracey McGillivray (Toronto) for To the Uninitiated and Emily Stillwell (Toronto) for The Birthday Party.
For more information on the CBC Literary Prizes, please visit CBCBooks.ca.
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About CBC Books
Home to Canada Reads, Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel, The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, Canada Writes and the CBC Literary Prizes, CBC Books connects Canadians with books, encouraging a shared love of reading and writing. For book news, writing challenges, reading lists, book recommendations and more, visit www.CBCbooks.ca.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. The Council champions and invests in artistic excellence through a broad range of grants, services, prizes and payments to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations. Its work ensures that excellent, vibrant and diverse art and literature engages Canadians, enriches their communities and reaches markets around the world. The Council also raises public awareness and appreciation of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities. It is responsible for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO , which promotes the values and programs of UNESCO in Canada to contribute to a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable future. The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) Program sends yearly payments to creators whose works are in Canada’s public libraries. The Canada Council Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts.
About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to society through cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, world-class performances, and public outreach.
For further information, contact:
Frances Bedford
Senior Communications Officer, CBC
416-205-7673
Diane Hargrave
Diane Hargrave Public Relations
416-467-9954
