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Book Prize Accepting Submissions for 2025 Prize

October 24, 2024 / admin / Book Prize

The John Wesley Dafoe Foundation is once again pleased to receive submissions for its annual Book Prize. The 2025 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, valued at $12,000, will be awarded to a publication with a 2024 imprint “. . . for distinguished writing by Canadians, or authors resident in Canada, that contributes to the understanding of […]

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John Vaillant UManitoba October 29

October 14, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize, Events

The J.W. Dafoe Foundation Presents: The 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize Winner John Vaillant’s Fire Weather 11:30 am – 12:45 pm University of Manitoba University College, Concourse lounge Duff Roblin Professor of Government Department of Political Studies University of Manitoba * John Vaillant is an author and freelance writer based in Vancouver, BC. His work […]

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John Vaillant at Whodunit? October 29

October 13, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize, Events

The J.W. Dafoe Foundation Presents: The 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize Winner John Vaillant’s Fire Weather October 29, 7 pm Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore 163 Lilac Street Light refreshments provided * John Vaillant is an author and freelance writer based in Vancouver, BC. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and […]

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Jurors’ Comments on Book Prize Shortlist

June 12, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

As part of the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, the 2024  jury selected a ten book longlist, a five book shortlist, and a winner, announced June 10. The members of the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize — Dr. Dale Barbour, Dr. Gregory Mason, and Dr. Catherine Cook — selected […]

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2024 Book Prize Winner Announced: Fire Weather by John Vaillant

June 10, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

The J.W. Dafoe Foundation is pleased to announce that John Vaillant has won the 2024 John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize for Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada. Vaillant’s work is the unanimous choice of this year’s jury, who described the winning book this way: “This is a terrific […]

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Shortlist #5: Leo Baskatawang’s Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law

June 7, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

There are five books on the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize shortlist and today we’re going to highlight Leo Baskatawang’s Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law: Kinamaadiwin Inaakonigewin and the Treaty Right to Education (University of Manitoba Press). Here’s a Q&A with Leo Baskatawang. What were your goals for this book? My primary goal for Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law […]

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Shortlist #4: John Vaillant’s Fire Weather

June 5, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

There are five books on the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize shortlist and today we’re going to highlight John Vaillant’s Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast (Penguin Random House Canada). Here’s a Q&A with John Vaillant. What were your goals for this book? To engage Canadians in their own history, and to connect that […]

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Shortlist #3: Ed Broadbent’s Seeking Social Democracy

June 3, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

There are five books on the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize shortlist and today we’re going to highlight Ed Broadbent’s Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality (ECW Press).  Ed Broadbent died in January 2024, so here’s a Q&A with his collaborators, Jonathan Sas, Luke Savage and Frances Abele. What were your […]

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Shortlist #2: Ken McGoogan’s Searching for Franklin

June 1, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

There are five books on the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize shortlist and today we’re going to highlight  Ken McGoogan’s Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery (Douglas & McIntyre). Here’s a Q&A with Ken McGoogan. What were your goals for this book? Urged on by the late Louie Kamookak, the Inuit oral […]

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Shortlist #1: Burnett & Hay’s Plundering the North

May 28, 2024 / Ariel Gordon / Book Prize

There are five books on the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize shortlist and today we’re going to highlight Kristin Burnett and Travis Hay’s Plundering the North: A History of Settler Colonialism, Corporate Welfare, and Food Insecurity (University of Manitoba Press). Here’s a Q&A with Burnett and Hay. What were your goals for this book? The research began […]

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