VANCOUVER — Award-winning author Ross King is in contention for yet another lucrative prize: British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
The Estevan, Sask.-born writer, who is based in the U.K., has been named to the long list for the $40,000 award for "Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies" (Bond Street Books/Doubleday Canada).
He is among three longlisted authors who are also vying for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction being awarded in Toronto on Wednesday evening.
Joining King on both the B.C. long list and the Writers' Trust short list are Vancouver-based journalist and author Deborah Campbell, and Jerusalem-based writer Matti Friedman.
Campbell, who teaches at the University of British Columbia, is recognized for "A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War" (Knopf Canada).
The Toronto-born Friedman is in contention for "Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story" (Signal/McClelland & Stewart).
Rounding out the B.C. award's long list of 10 authors are:
— Ivan Coyote for "Tomboy Survival Guide" (Arsenal Pulp Press)
— Montreal-based Taras Grescoe for "Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love and International Intrigue on the Eve of the Second World War" (Harper Avenue)
— Montreal-born, Toronto-based Sandra Martin for "A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices" (Patrick Crean Editions)
— Halfmoon Bay, B.C.-based author Robert Moor for his debut "On Trails: An Exploration" (Simon & Schuster)
— "Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World" by McGill University Prof. Marc Raboy (Oxford University Press)
— Thunder Bay, Ont.-born Diane Schoemperlen for "This is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison, and Other Complications" (HarperAvenue)
— Toronto-based author and journalist Alexandra Shimo for "Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve" (Dundurn Press)
More than 140 books submitted by 46 publishers were nominated for the prize.
Now in its 13th year, the award is presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation.
The 2015 winner was Toronto author Rosemary Sullivan for "Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva."
The short list will be announced in December, and the winner will be presented in Vancouver early next year.
