Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Presented |

The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is an award administered by the Writers Trust of Canada since 2000. Named after outspoken MP Shaughnessy Cohen, it is awarded annually to a non-fiction book that enhances understanding of a political issue that is of interest to Canadians.

This year the award was presented to Anna Porter for The Ghosts of Europe: Journeys through Central Europe's Troubled Past and Uncertain Future. In this book, Hungarian-born Porter examines the impact of democracy on the region, discovering a widening gap between rich and poor and a rise in racial tension.

Other finalists for this year's prize were:

Arrival City: The Final Migration and Our Next World by Doug Saunders

Harperland: The Politics of Control by Lawrence Martin

The Madman and the Butcher: The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie by Tim Cook

Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America by Shelagh D. Grant