Tanya Talaga wins $30,000 RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction writing
Toronto journalist Tanya Talaga won the $30,000 RBC Taylor Prize on Monday and dedicated her speech to the subjects of the book she wishes she “did not have to write” — seven Indigenous youth who died under suspicious circumstances while attending high school in Thunder Bay, Ont., from 2000 to 2011.
“Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City” (House of Anansi) delves into the history of Indigenous students being forced to leave their remote communities in northern Ontario so they can get an education hundreds of kilometres away in a foreign city.
“I am probably one of the only people to win this beautiful award to say that I wish I did not have to write this book, but I did. I had to,” Talaga said in her acceptance speech for the non-fiction prize.
“It was something that I felt I must do, for many reasons. But those reasons I am going to tell you right now, there are seven of them: Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Paul Panacheese, Robyn Harper, Kyle Morrisseau, Jordan Wabasse, Reggie Bushie. All of you, the seven fallen feathers.”