Eternity Martis, David A. Robertson and Merilyn Simonds to judge 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize

Eternity Martis, David A. Robertson and Merilyn Simonds will judge the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

The CBC Nonfiction Prize recognizes original, unpublished works of nonfiction up to 2,000 words. Memoir, biography, humour writing, essay, personal essay, travel writing or a feature article are all accepted.

The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point and have their work published on CBC Books.

Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The 2023 prize is open for submissions until Feb. 28, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

• 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize is now open to Canadian writers

Martis is ajournalist and editor living in Toronto. She is the author of the memoirThey Said This Would Be Fun, which won the 2021 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for nonfiction. She teaches journalism atToronto Metropolitan University. Her writing has appeared in media outlets across North America, includingVice, Huffington Post, The Walrus, Hazlitt, The Fader, Salon and CBC.

• Eternity Martis reflects on the challenges of being a Black university student in her first book

Robertsonis a Swampy Cree writer who haspublished several books across a variety of genres, from pictures books to graphic novels to memoir and fiction. His most recent books are the novelThe Theory of Crows, the Misewa Saga YA series,the picture bookOn the Trapline, which was illustrated by Julie Flett,and the memoirBlack Water. His picture bookWhen We Were Alone, which as also illustrated by Flett,wontheGovernor General's Literary Awardfor young people's literature, illustrated books.

• How David A. Robertson manages to write as much as he does

Robertsonalso hostedthe CBCManitobapodcastKiwewandis the editorial director ofa new children's imprint dedicated to publishing Indigenous writers and illustrators at Penguin Random House Canada.

LISTEN |How authors David A. Robertson and Vivek Shraya are helping writers of colour:

17:01How authors David A. Robertson and Vivek Shraya are helping writers of colour get their foot in the door

David A. Robertson and Vivek Shraya have both made indelible marks on contemporary Canadian literature as bestselling authors. They also both run their own imprints Shraya's VS. Books at Arsenal Pulp Press has been dedicated to emerging BIPOC writers since 2017, while Robertson has recently launched a children's imprint at Penguin Random House Canada to publish Indigenous writers and illustrators. Robertson and Shraya joined guest host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about helping new writers get their foot in the door of the Canadian publishing industry.

Merilyn Simonds is a writer from Kingston, Ont. who has written 20 books,including the nonfiction booksThe Convict Lover,Gutenberg's Fingerprintand the novelRefuge. She is the founder and first artistic director of the Kingston WritersFest. Her latest book, Woman, Watching, was published in 2022.

• How publishing books inspired Merilyn Simonds to write a book

The jury will select the shortlist and winner.A panel of established writers and editors from across Canada review the submissions and willdetermine the longlist from all the submissions.The longlist, shortlist and winner will be announced in fall 2023.

Last year's winner was Susan Cormier, a Mtis writer from B.C., for her essay Advice to a New Beekeeper.

• How the 'magic' of beekeeping inspired the essay that won the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize

The CBC Literary Prizes have been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners include David Bergen, Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields and Michael Winter.

• 16 famous Canadian writers who won CBC Literary Prizes

Need a little motivation to get you going? Subscribe to the CBC Nonfiction Prize newsletter.

If you're looking to submit to theFrench nonfictionprize,you can enter here.

The 2023 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April and the CBC Short Story Prize will open in September.