The J.W. Dafoe Foundation is proud to announce that Gerald Friesen has won the $12,000 John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize for The Honourable John Norquay, published by the University of Manitoba Press!
Our jury described the winning title as: “Friesen’s writing is incredible. He has the ability to weave narrative and context together without overwhelming the reader. He drops us into the hybrid Red River valley culture of the nineteenth century and takes us on a journey as John Norquay attempts to manage the region’s transformation into a Canadian province. This outstanding biography reveals a man of high intelligence and dogged determination who participated in the forming of confederation.”
“Friesen has forced future histories of Manitoba and Canada to include Norquay as one the genuine founders of our country.”
The J.W. Dafoe Foundation thanks this year’s dedicated jury members, Dale Barbour, Gregory Mason, and Patricia Bovey, for their service to the J.W. Dafoe Foundation and their selection of The Honourable John Norquay for the 2025 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.
The J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, worth $12,000, will be formally awarded later this fall at the J.W. Dafoe Foundation’s Book Prize Event. Details to come soon.
The Prize is one of the richest book awards in Canada for excellence in non-fiction, with a focus on major subjects involving Canada, the West, and Canadians, as well as the Canadian nation in international affairs.
It memorializes John Wesley Dafoe, one of the most significant Canadian newspaper editors of the 20th century. During his tenure at the Manitoba Free Press, later renamed the Winnipeg Free Press, from 1901-1944, Dafoe was known for his advocacy of western development, free trade, national independence, and the British Commonwealth.
The Foundation’s activities also support a $10,000 fellowship for M.A. students pursuing studies in international relations, international conflict resolution, economics, history, law or politics at the University of Manitoba; a $1,000 writing award for Manitoba post-secondary students; the annual J.W. Dafoe Political Studies Students’ Conference (PSSC); a prize for student and community newspaper writers established in partnership with the Winnipeg Press Club; and a number of colloquia on Canada in international affairs.