Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood is a non-fiction memoir written by the Canadian writer Wayson Choy, first published in October 1999 by Viking Press. In the book, the author chronicles his experience growing up as an immigrant in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1940s and 1950s. Paper Shadows received shortlist honours for the 2000 Vancouver City Book Award and won the 2000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.
The Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction is an annual literary award recognizing the previous year's best creative nonfiction book with a "Canadian locale and/or significance" that is a Canadian writer's "first or second published book of any type or genre". It was established by an endowment from Edna Staebler, a literary journalist best known for cookbooks, and was inaugurated in 1991 for publication year 1990. The award is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Arts. Only submitted books are considered.
Allan Casey is a Canadian writer, whose book Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada, won the Governor General's Award for English non-fiction in 2010. The book was also a shortlisted nominee for the Edna Staebler Award.
Most of Me: Surviving My Medical Meltdown is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Robyn Michele Levy, first published in September 2011 by Greystone Books. In the book, the author chronicles her plight from symptoms, to medical diagnosis, and coping with simultaneous illnesses.
The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Andrew Westoll, first published in May 2011 by Harper Collins. In the book, the author chronicles the time he spent volunteering at the Fauna Sanctuary, an animal refuge in Quebec for chimpanzees that had been used for biomedical research.
Letters from the Lost: A Memoir of Discovery is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Helen Waldstein Wilkes, first published in December 2009 by Athabasca University Press. In the book, the author chronicles her discoveries after reading a box of letters she had never before seen. Her Jewish parents had fled Czechoslovakia in April 1939 to seek haven in Canada. Once in place, they corresponded with family and friends, encouraging them to escape the mounting peril that Hitler had envisioned as the Final Solution. Wilkes would learn that shortly after her parents migration, the ability to flee had been curtailed; and that each letter, compounded the historical anguish the writers were forced to endure.
Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound is a non-fiction book by musician and broadcaster Grant Lawrence, first published in October 2010 by Harbour Publishing. In the book, the author chronicles his upbringing, focusing on annual summer vacations spent on a land parcel his father had purchased in the 1970s on British Columbia's Desolation Sound.
A Very Capable Life: The Autobiography of Zarah Petri is a non-fiction memoir of his mother by the Canadian television host Johnnie Walters, written under his real name John Leigh Walters and published in January 2010 by Athabasca University Press. It re-tells the stories his mother described to him regarding her immigration to Canada in the 1920s. Walters gives his first person account using humor, and intrigue, to share his mother's expressed regards about her depression era experiences.
Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada is a nonfiction book, written by Canadian writer Allan Casey, first published in November 2009 by Greystone Books. The book celebrates Canada's uniquely lake-rich landscape, and explores the relationship that both the author and all Canadians have with this "Lakeland". In the book, the author chronicles his summer vacations to ten Canadian lakes. His tale begins at the cabin his father built on Saskatchewan's, Emma Lake in 1960, and continues on a journey through ten of Canada's scenic lakes, extenuating their increasingly fragile existence as pristine lakes of Saskatchewan. It has been called an "extraordinary piece of writing", earning accolades of literary recognition.
Smiling Bears: A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears is a 2009 book by Canadian writer Else Poulsen, first published by Greystone Books. In the book, the author chronicles her insights gleaned as a zookeeper responsible for rehabilitating "bears in crisis". Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson called Smiling Bears "An inspiring trip into the minds and reality of bears."
Lost: A Memoir is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Cathy Ostlere, first published in May 2008 by Key Porter Books. In the book, the author chronicles her feelings of guilt associated with her brother and his fiancée being declared "lost at sea". Ostlere had promised her brother not to divulge his plans for a sea voyage, and when his birthday in 1995 passed without the family receiving a call, she felt it was not particularly unusual of his character, and choose not to mention their secret. After weeks of no word, Ostlere admitted to her parents that she had knowledge of the seafaring plans. Soon after admitting this, it was determined that the couple were officially "lost at sea".
The Darien Gap: Travels in the Rainforest of Panama is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Martin Mitchinson, first published in August 2008 by Harbour Publishing. In the book, the author chronicles his 18-month expedition traveling the province of the Darién Gap, an area dangerous for human sojourns; a haven for Colombian guerrillas and drug-trafficking. The jungle is dense and teeming with caimans, boa constrictors, and jaguars. Mitchinson sailed into the province aboard his 36-foot ketch. He then moved in with a native family who also served as his guide.
Stardust is a non-fiction collection of memoirs and essays, written by Canadian writer Bruce Serafin, first published in October 2007 by New Star Books. The book, contains 20 writings from Serafin's youth; compiled after the authors death in 2007. Primarily the prose dishes harsh criticism at the establishment; in the authors style of candid and frank discourse. Serafin was honored posthumously for his work.
Baptism of Fire: The Second Battle of Ypres and the Forging of Canada, April 1915 is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Nathan M. Greenfield, first published in April 2007 by Harper Collins. In the book, the author recounts "The Second Battle of Ypres", called an "heroic battle" of World War I. The battle poised skilled German soldiers armed with chlorine gas against the entrenched 1st Canadian Division who managed to prevail, against odds. In defeating the Germans, and overcoming the effects of the first chemical attack of the modern era, Greenfield tells a "gripping" tale for anyone seeking to understand Canadian history or her military past.
French Kiss: Stephen Harper's Blind Date with Quebec is a non-fiction book written by Chantal Hébert, a Canadian writer and columnist for the Toronto Star and Le Devoir, first published by Knopf Canada in April 2007. In the book, the author recounts the 2006 general election in the province of Quebec and the improbable dominance of the Conservative Party in that region. Hébert describes the outcome as a "combination of Harper's tactical brilliance and Paul Martin's political ineptitude." The book presents complex issues in "clear and concise" prose. Hébert's enduring quality throughout the telling is objectivity, an increasingly rare trait amongst journalists.
The Red Wall: A Woman in the RCMP is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Jane Hall, first published in July 2007 by General Store Publishing. In the book, the author chronicles her personal experiences as the first woman accepted in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Hall recalls that ever since becoming a Mountie in 1977, people have asked her "What it was like"? Hall says she always avoided answering the question because she knew the story couldn't be told with a few sentences. The book's 351 pages are apparently sufficient as the book has been well received for its historical significance. Hall says of her book, "It was time to break the silence; time to acknowledge our successes and our failures. Time to move forward." Hall spent eight years writing her manuscript, and another two years copy-editing her work before presenting it for publication.
The Guns of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944 is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer George G. Blackburn, first published in October 1995 by McClelland & Stewart. In the book, the author renders a firsthand account of the Normandy invasion from within the Canadian Forces. The narrative account was called "gripping", given in "the most graphic and authentic detail". The panel of judges who awarded the "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" called The Guns of Normandy "an outstanding example" of the genre.
Romancing Mary Jane: A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Michael Poole, first published in 1998 by Greystone Books. In the book, the author chronicles the regrettable consequences of his decision to cultivate marijuana on a commercial level. Goodreads called the book, an "engaging blend of metaphysics, marijuana, and midlife crisis." A panel of Wilfrid Laurier University judges called Poole's writing, "sheer competence".
Rolling Home: A Cross Canada Railroad Memoir is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Tom Allen, first published in October 2001 by Penguin Books. In the book, the author chronicles his travels across Canada on a train. Allen includes his interviews with passengers, engineers, cooks, and porters. Rolling Home has been called an "evocative cross-country tour of Canada by train," by Staebler award administrator Kathryn Wardropper.
After is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour, first published in October 2005 by Tundra Books. In the book, the author narrates his pain and confusion as he grieved his father's death by suicide. Judith Miller, an award judge for the Edna Staebler Award called After, "deeply moving" saying, "We enjoyed the lyricism of his language and his strong sense of character."
