Quill and Quire

Awards

« Back to
Quillblog

John Ibbitson wins 2016 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing

2015-john_ibbitson

Globe and Mail Ottawa political affairs correspondent John Ibbitson has been named winner of the 2016 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Stephen Harper (Signal/McClelland & Stewart), his biography of the former prime minister.

The $25,000 prize, administered by the Writers’ Trust of Canada, recognizes excellent works of Canadian political writing.

This year’s jury – historian Tim Cook, Globe and Mail journalist Robyn Doolittle, and McGill University professor and political commentator Antonia Maioni – said of the title in a release: “The many ways in which Canada changed during Stephen Harper’s nearly 10 years in power have been well documented. But the man himself has remained a mystery. With impressive access and meticulous research, John Ibbitson writes a remarkable biography that puts us inside Harper’s head during some of the most critical moments of his life, providing the definitive picture to date of one of the most significant Prime Ministers in Canadian history.”

Ibbitson received his award April 20 at the Writers’ Trust’s Politics and the Pen Gala at Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier.