Edna Staebler was a Canadian writer and award-winning literary journalist, best known for her series of cookbooks, particularly Food That Really Schmecks which is currently available in e-book form. While the book contains Mennonite recipes, the content also includes stories and anecdotes about life and home cooking in the rural areas of the Waterloo Region.
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.
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.
Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives through the Secret World of Stolen Art is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Joshua Knelman, first published in September 2011 by Douglas & McIntyre. In the book, the author chronicles his four-year investigation into the world of international art theft. Knelman traveled from Cairo to New York City, London, Montreal, and Los Angeles compiling his book; which has been called "A major work of investigative journalism", and "a globetrotting mystery filled with cunning and eccentric characters."
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.
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.
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.
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).
Nitassinan: The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Marie Wadden, first published in December 1991 by Douglas & McIntyre. In the book, the author chronicles the plight of the Innu people, indigenous inhabitants of an area they affectionately call "Nitassinan" which means "our land" in the Innu language.
White Lies is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Liza Potvin, first published in March 1992 by NeWest Press. In the book, the author chronicles her "lost" childhood, as an incest victim, and the subsequent years of emotional turmoil, leading to recovery.
Sharing a Robin's Life is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Linda Johns, first published in July 1993 by Nimbus Publishing. In the book, the author writes in first person prose; describing when she and a robin, she had nurtured from peril, cohabited; sharing their life and home. The judges who awarded Linda Johns the "Edna Staebler Award" called the book; "a remarkable" read, saying it "challenges our preconceptions" about the "natural world around us."
Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Charlotte Gray, first published in 1997 by Penguin Books. In the book, the author chronicles the life of William Lyon Mackenzie's daughter; the mother of Canada's longest serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Her son portrayed her as the "ideal woman, the epitome of motherhood and an angel of goodness and light." His biographers have her portrayed as "an ambitious, grasping manipulator who pushed her eldest son into politics and then contrived to keep him a bachelor so that he could support the rest of his family." Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Arts panel called Mrs. King an "outstanding example of creative non-fiction", further stating, "Charlotte Gray has written a biography with the narrative power of a fine novel."
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.
The Last Island: A Naturalist's Sojourn on Triangle Island is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Alison Watt, first published in September 2002 by Harbour Publishing. In the book, the author chronicles her return to Triangle Island, a bird sanctuary off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Watt spent four months studying tufted puffins with her mentor Anne Vallee, returning 16 years later after Vallee's death. The Last Island is written in "beautiful language combined with watercolour paintings" with the power to "transport the reader to the island".
Into the Blue: Family Secrets and the Search for a Great Lakes Shipwreck is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Andrea Curtis, first published in April 2003 by Random House Canada. In the book, the author narrates her family history and their connection to the 1906 shipwreck of the SS J.H. Jones, lost to the late-November swells of Ontario's Georgian Bay, claiming the lives of all on board. The ship's captain, Jim Crawford, left his one-year-old daughter, Eleanor, an orphan who faced a future of poverty. Curtis did not know the stigma her grandmother endured until researching the shipwreck, and discovering its links to her families past. Staebler Award administrator Kathryn Wardropper called the book "a thoroughly credible and enjoyable book".
I'll Tell You a Secret: a Memory of Seven Summers is a non-fiction memoir, written by Canadian writer Anne Coleman, first published in September 2004 by McClelland & Stewart. In the book, the author offers her perspective of Hugh MacLennan, her mentor and well known Canadian literary figure. The voice is described as "uncompromising, perceptive and rich with reflection." Kathryn Wardropper, administrator of the Edna Staebler Award said, "The judges were thrilled with her writing and Edna, herself, was a strong champion of this title."
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."
