Jeffrey Simpson, Noah Richler finalists for $10K Dafoe Prize

Toronto writers Jeffrey Simpson and Noah Richler are among five nominees for the $10,000 John W. Dafoe Book Prize for non-fiction.

The award, named after John Wesley Dafoe, a former editor of the Manitoba Free Press (later Winnipeg Free Press), is for a book about international affairs by a Canadian writer.

There were 47 entries from across Canada:

The finalists are:

• Mary Janigan, Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation, Knopf Canada
• Ian McKay and Jamie Swift. Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety, Between the Lines Press.
• Noah Richer, What We Talk About When We Talk About War, Goose Lane Editions.
• Jeffrey Simpson. Chronic Condition: Why Canadas Health Care System needs to be dragged into the 21st Century, Allen Lane (Penguin).
• Reg Whitaker, Gregory S. Kealey and Andrew Parnaby. Secret Service: Political Policing in Canada from the Fenians to Fortress America, University of Toronto Press.

The winner will be named later in the spring and collect the award at the J.W. Dafoe Foundations book prize dinner in May.