About
Weston International Award
Nonfiction that broadens global perspectives.
The Weston International Award honours career achievement in nonfiction writing. Each year, a winner will be selected based on a body of nonfiction work that, in the opinion of the jury, demonstrates excellence in the field and has advanced our understanding of the world.
The winner receives $75,000 and will appear at an event in Toronto the same year. Works must be written in English or widely available in translation. The award is administered by Writers’ Trust of Canada, a charitable organization that supports and celebrates Canadian authors across genres and at all stages of their career.
A companion prize, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction annually awards $75,000 to a Canadian author for a single work of nonfiction and an additional $20,000 to its four finalists. Collectively, the two Weston awards will deliver more than $230,000 in direct support to writers each year. Writers’ eligibility is limited to one prize.
By elevating world-class nonfiction and celebrating its creators, the award encourages shared literary values that promote truth, accuracy, and authentic argument and narrative both within Canada and across national divides.
Winners of the Weston International Award are selected following a peer-review process. A three-person international advisory committee of distinguished authors creates a longlist of writers for consideration by a five-person Canadian jury, which selects the winner. Only the name of the winner will be made public.
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Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible authors will have published at least three books of outstanding literary merit in the genre of nonfiction. Literary nonfiction includes, among other forms, works of personal or journalistic essays, memoirs, commentary, criticism both social and political, history, and biography.
- Authors who are eligible for the $75,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction are not eligible for the Weston International Award.
- Work must be written in English or widely available in translation.
- There is no submission process.
Process & Winner Obligations
A three-person advisory committee of distinguished international authors, ideally representing the major English-language markets for nonfiction (United Kingdom, United States, Australia), are appointed for a three-year term. The committee creates a non-publicized longlist of 10 writers for the Canadian jury to consider, advises on media opportunities in their countries, and are encouraged to serve as ambassadors for award initiatives. The International Advisory Committee meets virtually, or corresponds via email, to decide on the award’s longlist.
After the longlist is decided upon by the committee, a five-person jury of distinguished Canadian nonfiction authors is sent one book by each longlisted author, along with a biographical overview of the writers. The jury meets and chooses five writers for an internal shortlist: Writers’ Trust sends two additional books by each shortlisted writer for the jury to further read. The jury then meets again to deliberate and choose a sole winner.
The jury is invited to events with the winner of the award in the fall of the award year. Writers’ Trust pays for and arranges all travel and accommodation, along with a per diem.
The winner of the Weston International Award must agree to travel to Toronto in late fall of the award year and deliver a talk on the role of nonfiction in global affairs to accept the award and its associated cash prize. For the winner, Writers’ Trust pays for and arranges all travel and accommodation, along with a per diem.
Sponsor
The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation
The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation contributes to charities whose bold ideas shape a better future for everyone.
The Foundation has committed $1.5 million in funding to Writers’ Trust of Canada over the course of three years to elevate and embolden nonfiction writers at home and abroad.
