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Christie Blatchford, Kamal Al-Solaylee among Shaughnessy Cohen Prize finalists

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize finalists announced

TORONTO — Books exploring the subjects of race, Canada's justice system and Newfoundland and Labrador politics, are among the titles vying for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

The finalists for the $25,000 literary award include Kamal Al-Solaylee for "Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (To Everyone)" published by HarperCollins Canada.

Christie Blatchford was recognized for "Life Sentence: Stories from Four Decades of Court Reporting - Or, How I Fell Out of Love with the Canadian Justice System (Especially Judges)" published by Doubleday Canada.

James McLeod is a finalist for his book "Turmoil, as Usual: Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Road to the 2015 Election," published by Creative Publishers

Ian McKay and Jamie Swift were honoured for "The Vimy Trap: Or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Great War," published by Between the Lines.

And Noah Richler made the short list for "The Candidate: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" (Doubleday Canada.)

The award was established in 2000 honour of the late Windsor, Ont., MP Shaughnessy Cohen.

This year's jury includes CBC foreign correspondent Nahlah Ayed, National Post columnist Colby Cosh and former Halifax MP Megan Leslie who is currently serving as vice-president, oceans for World Wildlife Fund Canada.

The winner will be announced in Ottawa on May 10 at the Politics and the Pen gala.

The Canadian Press