TORONTO — Michelle Good is among the finalists for the Writers' Trust of Canada's Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
The author of acclaimed novel "Five Little Indians" made the list for her collection of essays "Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada."
The $60,000 award, which will be handed out Nov. 28, goes to a book of non-fiction that advances policy debates.
The winner of last year's Donner Prize for a public policy book, "Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada’s Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade" by Ryan Manucha, also landed on the short list.
"Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence" by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb, which jurors say makes a "compelling case" for retooling systems and structures to accommodate AI, also earned a spot.
Rounding out the short list are "Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good," by David R. Samson, which explores why trust is declining in our society, and "The Compassionate Imagination: How the Arts Are Central to a Functioning Democracy" by Max Wyman, which puts forth an argument for continued arts funding in Canada.
Good's 2020 debut novel won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Amazon First Novel Award.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2023.
The Canadian Press
