Tanya Talaga among finalists for $25K political writing prize for nonfiction work The Knowing
The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing recognizes nonfiction relevant to Canadian readers
Tanya Talaga is among the shortlisted writers for the 2025 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
The $25,000 prize is awarded annually for a book of literary nonfiction that embodies a political subject relevant to Canadian readers and Canadian political life.
She is nominated for her book, The Knowing, which charts the life of her great-great grandmother Annie and the violence she and her family suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church and Canadian government.
"I had to find out about Annie," said Talaga on Bookends with Mattea Roach. "I was just enraptured by her. I mean, she's been a mystery for my entire family for over 80 years.
We're going to find those people that are crying out to be found. They need to be recognized and heard.- Tanya Talaga
"Part of the reason why I wrote this book ... was to empower other First Nations people to do the same thing, to try and look back. And by looking back in our family trees, we're going to find those people that are crying out to be found. They need to be recognized and heard."
The Knowing is also a four-part documentary, which can be streamed on CBC Gem.
Talaga is a journalist, author and filmmaker of Anishinaabe and Polish descent and a member of the Fort William First Nation. Talaga also wrote the nonfiction work Seven Fallen Feathers, which also won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing in 2018. Seven Fallen Feathers also received received the RBC Taylor Prize and the First Nation Communities Read: Young Adult/Adult Award.
In her 2018 CBC Massey Lectures series, titled All Our Relations, Talaga explored the legacy of cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples.
The other shortlisted writers for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prrize for Political Writing are Raymond B. Blake for Canada's Prime Ministers and the Shaping of a National Identity; Stephen Maher for The Prince, about Justin Trudeau's tenure as prime minister; Jane Philpott for Heath for All, a book the provides solutions to make Canada healthier; and Alasdair Roberts for The Adaptable Country, about how Canada can survive this century.
They were chosen by jurors Jennifer Ditchburn, Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Christopher Waddell.
All the titles are available in accessible formats through the Centre for Equitable Library Access.
The winner will be announced on Sept. 24, 2025 at the Politics and the Pen gala.
Last year's winner was John Vaillant's Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast.
Other past winners include Kamal Al Solaylee, Beverley McLachlin, Jane Jacobs and Roméo Dallaire.
The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize was established in honour of the Member of Parliament from Windsor, Ont. and is administered by the Writers' Trust of Canada. It is sponsored by CN and supported by the Politics and the Pen gala.
The Writers' Trust of Canada is an organization that supports Canadian writers through 11 annual national literary awards, fellowships, financial grants, mentorships and more.
