Evelyn Richardson Award

The Evelyn Richardson Memorial Non-Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival, to the best work of adult non-fiction published in the previous year by a writer from Atlantic Canada. It is the oldest literary award in the region and is considered the most prestigious for a work of non-fiction. The award was named to honour Evelyn M. Richardson.

Winners

• 1978 – Harry Bruce, Lifeline: the Story of the Atlantic Ferries and Coastal Boats
• 1979 – Alden Nowlan, Double Exposure
• 1980 – Joan Payzant and L.J. Payzant, Like a Weaver's Shuttle: a history of the Halifax-Dartmouth ferries
• 1981 – Kay Hill, Joe Howe: the Man who was Nova Scotia
• 1982 – Bruce Armstrong, Sable Island
• 1983 – J. Murray Beck, Joseph Howe: Volume 1, Conservative Reformer, 1804-1848
• 1984 – Brian C. Cuthbertson, The Loyalist Governor: Biography of Sir John Wentworth
• 1985 – Lilias M. Toward, Mabel Bell: Alexander's Silent Partner
• 1986 – P. B. Waite, The Man from Halifax: Sir John Thompson, Prime Minister
• 1987 – Tony Foster, Meeting of Generals
• 1988 – Harold Horwood, Dancing on the Shore: a Celebration of Life at Annapolis Basin
• 1989 – Dean Jobb, Shades of Justice: Seven Nova Scotia Murder Cases
• 1990 – Judith Fingard, Dark Side of Life in Victorian Halifax
• 1991 – Harry Thurston, Tidal Life: a natural history of the Bay of Fundy
• 1992 – Robert Pope, Illness and Healing: Images of Cancer
• 1993 – Sally Ross and J. Alphonse Deveau, The Acadians of Nova Scotia: Past and Present
• 1994 – Peter Brock, Variations on a Planet
• 1995 – Elizabeth Pacey, Landmarks: Historic Buildings of Nova Scotia
• 1996 – Simone Poirier-Bures, That Shining Place
• 1997 – Harry Thurston, The Nature of Shorebirds: Nomads of the Wetlands
• 1998 – Harry Bruce, An Illustrated History of Nova Scotia
• 1999 – Silver Donald Cameron, The Living Beach
• 2000 – Robin Metcalfe, Studio Rally
• 2001 – Joan Baxter, A Serious Pair of Shoes: An African Journal
• 2002 – Kent Thompson, Getting Out of Town by Book and Bike
• 2003 – Stephen Kimber, Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War
• 2004 – Harry Thurston, Island of the Blessed: the Secrets of Egypt's Everlasting Oasis
• 2005 – Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle, A Dune Adrift
• 2006 – Linda Johns, Birds of a Feather: Tales of a Wild Bird Haven
• 2007 – Linden MacIntyre, Causeway: A Passage from Innocence
• 2008 – Marq de Villiers, The Witch in the Wind: The True Story of the Legendary Bluenose
• 2009 – William B. Naftel, Halifax at War: Searchlights, Squadrons, and Submarines 1939-1945
• 2010 – John DeMont, Coal Black Heart: The Story of Coal and the Lives it Ruled
• 2011 – Laura Penny, More Money Than Brains: Why Schools Suck, College is Crap, and Idiots Think They're Right
• 2012 – Harry Thurston, The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History
• 2013 – Steven Laffoley, Shadowboxing: The Rise and Fall of George Dixon
• 2014 – Stephen Kimber, What Lies Across the Water ^[1]
• 2015 – Kaleigh Trace, Hot, Wet, & Shaking: How I Learned to Talk About Sex
• 2016 – Gary Saunders, My Life With Trees
• 2017 – Erin Wunker, Notes from A Feminist Killjoy
• 2018 – John DeMont, The Long Way Home: A Personal History of Nova Scotia ^[2]
• 2019 – Kate Inglis, Notes for the Everlost: A Field Guide to Grief ^[3]
• 2020 – Ami McKay, Daughter of Family G: A Memoir of Cancer Genes, Love and Fate ^[4]
• 2021 – Tyler LeBlanc, Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion
• 2022 – Stephen Kimber, Alexa!: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics ^[5]
• 2023 – El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies ^[6]
• 2024 – Karen Pinchin, Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas ^[7]
• 2025 – Andrea Currie, Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves ^[8]

References

1. "Kowalski, Kimber, Domanski take home East Coast Literary Awards". Quill & Quire , September 21, 2014.
2. Tara Thorne, "Your 2018 Atlantic Book Award winners". The Coast , May 11, 2018.
3. Ryan Porter, "Lisa Moore wins $25,000 fiction award at Atlantic Book Awards". Quill & Quire , June 10, 2019.
4. Sue Carter, "Ami McKay, Gemma Hickey double winners at Atlantic Book Awards". Quill & Quire , July 2, 2020.
5. Cassandra Drudi, "2022 Atlantic Book Awards winners announced". Quill & Quire , June 9, 2022.
6. Attila Berki, "Nova Scotia Book Awards 2023 winners announced". Quill & Quire , June 8, 2023.
7. Cassandra Drudi, "Amanda Peters, Karen Pinchin among 2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards winners". Quill & Quire , June 5, 2024.
8. MacDonald, April (June 3, 2025). "Currie earns Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award for Finding Otipemisiwak". The Inverness Oran. Retrieved 6 October 2025.

External links

• Evelyn Richardson Memorial Award