Gordon Montador Award Explained

The Gordon Montador Award was a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to honour non-fiction writing on social issues.[1] Created in 1991 in memory of book editor and publisher Gordon Montador,[2] the award was presented until 1999, when it was superseded by a reorganization of the Writers' Trust Awards. The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, presented for the first time in 2000, encompassed much of the same subject area;[3] although the Cohen award was never formally stated by the organization to be an official replacement for the Montador award, no new winner was ever announced for the Montador award after the Cohen award was introduced.

Winners and nominees

YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
align=center rowspan=61993Ronald WrightStolen ContinentsWinner[4]
Doris AndersonThe Unfinished RevolutionShortlist[5]
Pat CapponiUpstairs at the Crazy House
Mordecai RichlerOh Canada! Oh Quebec!
Rupert RossDancing with a Ghost
Marlene WebberFood for Thought
align=center rowspan=51994Michael IgnatieffBlood and Belonging, Journeys into the New NationalismWinner[6]
Brian MaracleCrazywater: Native Voices on Addiction and RecoveryShortlist[7]
Andrew NikiforukSchool's Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education and What We Can Do About It
Boyce RichardsonPeople of Terra Nullius, Betrayal and Rebirth in Aboriginal Canada
Lindalee TraceyOn the Edge: A Journey into the Heart of Canada
align=center rowspan=5 1995Neil BissoondathSelling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in CanadaWinner[8]
Maude Barlow, Heather-jane RobertsonClass Warfare: The Assault on Canada's SchoolsShortlist[9]
James Cote, Anton L. AllaharGeneration on Hold: Coming of Age in the Late Twentieth Century
John MacLachlan GrayLost in North America: The Imaginary Canadian in the American Dream
Judy SteedOur Little Secret: Confronting Child Sexual Abuse in Canada
align=center rowspan=5 1996John Ralston SaulThe Unconscious CivilizationWinner[10]
Richard GwynNationalism Without WallsShortlist[11]
Linda McQuaigShooting the Hippo
Patricia Monture-AngusThunder in My Soul: A Mohawk Woman Speaks
Vic ParsonsBad Blood: The Tragedy of the Canadian Tainted Blood Scandal
align=center rowspan=5 1997Cecil FosterA Place Called Heaven: The Meaning of Being Black in CanadaWinner[12]
Mark KingwellDreams of MillenniumShortlist[13]
Brian MaracleBack on the Rez
Rupert RossReturning to the Teachings
Jan WongRed China Blues
1998John Ralston SaulReflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth CenturyWinner[14]
1999Jean VanierBecoming HumanWinner

Notes and References

  1. "First Montador Award". Financial Post, September 28, 1992.
  2. "Award announced". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 1991.
  3. Kate Jaimet, "Spirit of Shaughnessy Cohen lives on at literary dinner on Hill". Ottawa Citizen, May 4, 2000.
  4. "Stolen Continents honored with Gordon Montador Award". Ottawa Citizen, April 23, 1993.
  5. "Book awards finalists announced". The Globe and Mail, April 14, 1993.
  6. "Ignatieff named non-fiction winner for work examining nationalist issues". Montreal Gazette, May 19, 1994.
  7. "Books nominated". Toronto Star, May 3, 1994.
  8. "Debated book wins Montador". Halifax Daily News, May 5, 1995.
  9. Christopher Harris, "Montador nominees". The Globe and Mail, April 10, 1995.
  10. "Writer Saul wins". Montreal Gazette, May 9, 1996.
  11. "Ottawa author's book among six finalists for prestigious award". Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 1996.
  12. "A Place Called Heaven earns social-issues book prize". Halifax Daily News, May 30, 1997.
  13. "Globe writer on shortlist for Montador award". The Globe and Mail, May 17, 1997.
  14. "Montador award winners named". North Bay Nugget, May 27, 1999. No shortlists were released in these years; both winners were announced concurrently in 1999.