Hilary Weston Prize shortlist announced

The finalists for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, one of the most lucrative awards of its kind in Canada, were announced on Wednesday.

The shortlist includes veteran CBC journalist Carol Off, who was recognized for her memoir All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others, and Toronto physician James Maskalyk, who was nominated for Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine.

The Whitehorse-born, Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Ivan Coyote was nominated for their 11th book, the memoir Tomboy Survival Guide, while Toronto picture book author and novelist Kyo Maclear landed on the shortlist on the strength of Birds Art Life: A Field Guide to the Small and Significant, a memoir about nature and creativity.

Finally, Toronto Star journalist Tanya Talaga was nominated for Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, which arrives in bookstores later this month.

The winner of the prize, who receives $60,000, will be announced November 14.

This year's jury – journalist Arno Kopecky, biographer and science writer Siobhan Roberts and journalism professor Susan Harada – considered 100 titles for the award.