Carol Off among finalists for $60K Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction

CBC host Carol Off is among the five finalists for the $60,000 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, one of the biggest prizes in Canada for nonfiction.

The As It Happens hostis nominated for All WeLeave Behind, which is about her efforts to help bring a family that was beingtargeted by warlords from Afghanistan to Canada.

The other finalists are Ivan Coyote for Tomboy Survival Guide, Kyo Maclear for Birds Art Life, James Maskalyk for Life on the Ground Floor andTanyaTalagaforSeven Fallen Feathers. You can learn more about this year's finalists below.

The finalists were chosen by jury members Susan Harada, ArnoKopecky and Siobhan Roberts out of 100 titles submitted by 54 different publishers.

The winner will be announced at the Writers' Trust awards gala on Nov. 14, 2017.

Last year's winner was Deborah Campbell forA Disappearance in Damascus.

Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote

What it's about:Tomboy Survival Guide is a memoir-in-stories that paints a picture of Coyote's childhood in the Yukon, their awakening queer identity and the ongoing struggleof living outside the gender binary.

• Ivan Coyote memoir reflects on not living in a gender 'box'

Birds Art Life by Kyo Maclear

What it's about:Kyo Maclear spent a year shadowing the adventures of an avid birdwatcher in Toronto. She documents their journey inBirds Art Lifeandexplores the intangible connections between nature, creativity and well-being.

• Kyo Maclear discovers Toronto's avian residents in Birds Art Life

Life on the Ground Floor by James Maskalyk

What it's about: In Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine,Maskalyk shares the observations he has made working in ER rooms in Toronto and Ethiopia.

• Life lessons from an ER doctor

All We Leave Behind by Carol Off

What it's about:When Asad Aryubwal publicly spoke out against warlords in Afghanistan, death squads were sent after him and his family. Fleeing with his wife and five children, Aryubwal sought help from the journalist who had interviewed him CBC's Carol Off.

• Carol Off's long journey to save the Afghan man who risked his life to talk to her

Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga

What it's about:Award-winning journalist TanyaTalagashines a spotlight on the lives of seven Indigenous high school students in Thunder Bay, Ont., who lost their lives between 2000 and 2011while separated from their families.

• 20 works of Canadian nonfiction to watch for this fall