Edna Staebler Award shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2010 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction has been announced. The $10,000 award, administered by Wilfrid Laurier University, recognizes Canadian writers of first or second works of creative non-fiction with Canadian significance. The shortlisted titles are:

• Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada, by Allan Casey (Greystone Books),
• A Very Capable Life: The Autobiography of Zarah Petri, by John Leigh Walters(Athabasca University Press)
• Smiling Bears: A Zookeeper Explores the Behaviour and Emotional Life of Bears, by Else Poulsen
  (Greystone Books),

The winner will be announced Oct. 11.

Event photos: Edna Staebler Award

Author Bruce Serafin, who died in 2007, was the winner of the 2008 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction for his essay collection Stardust (New Star Books). The award – and a $10,000 cheque – was accepted by Serafin’s partner, Sharon Esson, during a presentation on April 24 at Pulpfiction Books in Vancouver.

One of the award judges, Tanis MacDonald (right), presents the cheque to Esson.

Esson reads from Stardust.