Tanya Talaga, award-winning journalist and author, has won the 2017 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political writing for her book Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City.
The Prize is awarded annually for an exceptional book of literary nonfiction that captures a political subject of relevance to Canadian readers.
From the jury:
“Tanya Talaga’s powerful book is a hard-hitting story of the realities of Canadian racism, complicity, and Indigenous suffering. It is also a testament to the resilience of the Anishinaabe families who endure the crushing impacts of historic and contemporary injustices. In spare prose and a direct voice, Talaga documents the tragedies of the lost lives of Indigenous youth while creating a compelling narrative that educates the reader on the sad history of Indigenous-White relations. This book is a crucial document of our times, and vital to the emergence of a true vision of justice in Canada.”