Past winners

Michael Leyne - 2022
Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art. Figure 1 Publishing, 2021.

Shirarose Wilensky - 2021
Buter Honey Pig Bread. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020.

Amanda Lewis - 2020
Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality. Page Two, 2019.

Jennifer Croll – 2019
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography. Greystone Books, 2018.

Gilles Vilasco – 2018
Le repos Saint-François d'Assise : 100 ans d'accompagnement, l'assurance d'une pérennité. Cimetière Le repos Saint‐François d'Assise, 2017.
Read Gilles's acceptance speech

What happened to the 2017 Tom Fairley Award?
In 2018, we shifted the year of the award to reflect when it is presented (as opposed to the year the work was published). Aside from the year indicator, nothing really changed. In 2017, we presented the 2016 Tom Fairley Award for a project published in 2016. The 2018 Tom Fairley Award was presented to an editor for a work published in 2017.

Dania Sheldon – 2016
Charles Gretton: Clock and Watchmaking Through the Golden Age. Three O'Clock Publishing, 2016.

Lesley Peterson – 2015
The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior: A History of Canadian Internment Camp R. University of Alberta Press, 2015.

Grace Yaginuma – 2014
A Discerning Eye: The Walter C. Koerner Collection of European Ceramics. Figure 1 Publishing, 2014.

Peter Midgley – 2013
The Last Temptation of Bond. The University of Alberta Press, 2013.

Sandy Newton – 2012
Here's the Catch: The Fish We Harvest from the Northwest Atlantic. Boulder Publications, 2012.

Iva Cheung – 2011
Cow: a Bovine Biography. Greystone Books, 2011.

Lucy Kenward – 2010
Vij's at Home: Relax Honey. Douglas & McIntyre, 2010.

Mary Lou Roy – 2009
People of the Lakes: Stories of Our Van Tat Gwich'in Elders/Googwandak Nakhwach'ànjòo Van Tat Gwich'in. University of Alberta Press, 2009.

Melva McLean – 2008
TRIUMF Five-Year Plan 2010-2015: Building a Vision for the Future. TRIUMF, 2008.

Saeko Usukawa – 2007
Roald Nasgaard. Abstract Painting in Canada. Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group, 2007.

Audrey McClellan – 2006
Judith Williams. Clam Gardens: Aboriginal Mariculture on Canada's West Coast. New Star Books, 2006.

Frank Condron – 2005
Frank Condron. How to Go Further: A Guide to Simple Organic Living with Woody Harrelson and Friends. Warwick Publishing Group, 2005.

Valerie Wyatt – 2004
Rochelle Strauss. Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth. Kids Can Press, 2004.

Ian Coutts – 2003
Dan van der Vat. D-Day: The Greatest Invasion—A People's History. Raincoast/Madison Press, 2003.

Susan Goldberg – co-winner, 2002
Lise Cloutier-Steele. Misinformed Consent: Thirteen Women Share Their Stories about Unnecessary Hysterectomy. Stoddart, 2002.

David Peebles – co-winner, 2002
Barbara Canton. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Mathematics of Data Management. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2002.

Camilla Blakeley – 2001
Alexandra Palmer. Couture and Commerce, The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s. UBC Press, 2001

Barbara Pulling – 2000
Patricia Van Tighem. The Bear's Embrace, A True Story of Surviving a Grizzly Bear Attack. Greystone Books, 2001.

Elizabeth McLean – 1999
Jacqueline Krohn and Frances Taylor. Finding the Right Treatment: Modern and Alternative Treatment: A Comprehensive Guide to Getting the Best of Both Worlds. Hartley & Marks, 1999.

Jim Lyons – co-winner, 1998
Minister's Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce. Electronic Commerce and Canada's Tax Administration: A Report to the Minister of National Revenue. Ottawa, 1998.

Georgina Montgomery – co-winner, 1998
Raffi. The Life of a Children's Troubador: An Autobiography. Vancouver: Homeland Press, 1999.

John Eerkes-Medrano – 1997
Sue Lebrecht and Susan Noppe. Adventuring around Vancouver Island: Beachcombing to Bungy Jumping. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 1997.

Rosemary Shipton – 1996
Laurier L. LaPierre. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1996.

Sharon Stewart – 1995
Various authors. Technology, Policy and Practice in Africa. Ottawa: IDRC, 1995.

Ruth Pincoe – 1994
Royal Conservatory of Music. New Piano Series Student Guides: A Guide to the Study of the Examination Repertoire of The Royal Conservatory of Music. 8 volumes. Oakville: Frederick Harris Music, 1994.

Jane McNulty – 1993
Various authors. Career Connections. 6 volumes. Toronto: Trifolium Books, 1993.

Lenore d'Anjou – 1992
Raymond W.Y. Kao. Small Business Management. 3d ed. Toronto: Dryden Canada, 1992.

Rick Archbold – 1991
John Sawatsky. Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition. Research associate Harvey Cashore. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1991.

Kathryn Dean – 1990
Thomas S. Axworthy and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, eds. Towards a Just Society: The Trudeau Years. Toronto: Viking Penguin Books Canada, 1990.

Robert Fulford – 1989
Larry Zolf. Scorpions for Sale: A Fictional Biography. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1989.

Nancy Flight – 1988
David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson. Genethics: The Ethics of Engineering Life. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1988.

Sarah Swartz – 1987
David Suzuki. Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1987.

Heather Ebbs – 1986
Karlis Irbitis. Of Struggle and Flight: The History of Latvian Aviation. Ottawa: Canada's Wings, 1986.

Norman Dahl – 1985
Ross Fox. Presentation Pieces and Trophies from the Henry Birks Collection of Canadian Silver. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1985.

John Eerkes-Medrano – 1984
Matt Bray and Ernie Epp, eds. A Vast and Magnificent Land: An Illustrated History of Northern Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Northern Affairs, Lakehead University, Laurentian University, 1984.

Barbara Czarnecki – 1983
Floyd S. Chalmers. Both Sides of the Street: One Man's Life in Business and the Arts in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan, 1983.