Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize
| Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | English-language Canadian works of biography, autobiography or memoir |
| Country | Canada |
| Presented by | Writers' Trust of Canada and Claire Drainie Taylor |
| First awarded | 1999 |
| Last awarded | 2006 |
The Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize was a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a work judged as the year's best work of biography, autobiography or personal memoir by a Canadian writer.
Created in 1998, the award was named in honour of Nathan A. Taylor, one of the country's leading entertainment impresarios, and actor John Drainie. Writer and actor Claire Drainie Taylor, the award's benefactor, was married to Drainie from 1942 until his death in 1966, and was subsequently married to Taylor until his death in 2004.
The first award was presented in November 1999. For the remainder of the award's existence, however, the award was presented in the spring of the year following the year in which the eligible works were published. The final award was presented in March 2006 to honor works published in 2005.
The award was discontinued after 2006, in favour of an expanded prize package for the Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
Nominees and winners
| Year | Winner | Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 |
 François Ricard (author) and Patricia Claxton (translator), Gabrielle Roy: A Life
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| 2000 |
Trevor Herriot, River in a Dry Land: A Prairie Passage
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| 2001 |
Ken McGoogan, Fatal Passage
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| 2002 |
Warren Cariou, Lake of the Prairies: A Story of Belonging
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| 2003 |
Geoffrey Stevens, The Player: The Life and Times of Dalton Camp
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| 2004 |
Peter C. Newman, Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power
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| 2005 |
Nelofer Pazira, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan
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