George Borden
Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction)
Past Winners
2024
2023
Prior to 2022, the George Borden Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction) was known as the Dartmouth Book Award (Nonfiction).
2021
Winner
Silver Donald Cameron
Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes
(Viking Canada)
2020
Winner
Ami McKay
Before My Time: A Memoir of Love & Fate
(Knopf Canada)
(Initially published under the title Daughter of Family G: A Memoir of Cancer Genes, Love and Fate)
2019
Winner
Marilyn Davidson Elliott
The Blind Mechanic: The Amazing Story of Eric Davidson, Survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion
(Nimbus Publishing)
2017
Winner
Graham Reynolds (with Wanda Robson)
Viola Desmond’s Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land
(Nimbus Publishing)
2016
Winner
Janet Maybee
Aftershock: The Halifax Explosion and the Persecution of Pilot Francis Mackey
(Nimbus Publishing)
Finalist
Tony Colaiacovo
The Times of African Nova Scotians, Volume Two: A Celebration of Our History, Heritage and Culture
(Delmore "Buddy" Daye Learning Institute)
Finalist
Dean Jobb
Empire Of Deception: From Chicago To Nova Scotia: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation
(HarperCollins)
2015
Winner
Gordon Pitts
Fire in the Belly: How Purdy Crawford rescued Canada, and changed the way we do business
(Nimbus Publishing)
2014
Winner
Joel Zemel
Scapegoat: the extraordinary legal proceedings following the 1917 Halifax Explosion
(New World Publishing)
Finalist
Ruth Holmes Whitehead
Black Loyalists: Southern Settlers of Nova Scotia's First Free Black Communities
(Nimbus Publishing)
Finalist
Captain Robert N. Clements, MC (with Brian Tennyson)
Merry Hell: The Story of the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914 - 1919
(University of Toronto Press)
2013
Winner
Anne Marie Lane Jonah and Chantal Véchambre
French Taste in Atlantic Canada 1604 - 1758: A Gastronomic History / Le goût français au Canada atlantique 1604 - 1758 : une histoire gastronomique
(Cape Breton University Press)
Finalist
Denise Cormier
The Village of My Heart’s Mistake: An Acadian Life
(Encompass Editions)
Finalist
Joan Dawson
Nova Scotia’s Historic Rivers: The Waterways that Shaped the Province
(Nimbus Publishing)
2012
Winner
Harry Thurston
The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History
(Greystone Books / David Suzuki Foundation)
Finalist
Carol Campbell and James F. Smith
Necessaries and Sufficiencies: Planter Society in Londonderry, Onslow and Truro, 1761 - 1780
(Cape Breton University Press)
Finalist
Dianne Marshall
Heroes of the Acadian Resistance: The Story of Joseph Beausoleil Broussard and Pierre II Surette 1702-1765
(Formac Publishing)
2011
Winner
Jerry Lockett
Captain James Cook in Atlantic Canada: The Adventurer & Map Maker's Formative Years
(Formac Publishing)
Finalist
John Boileau
Halifax & the Royal Canadian Navy
(Nimbus Publishing)
Finalist
Daniel Doucet
Élizabeth LeFort: Canada’s Artist in Wool / L'artiste canadienne de la laine
(Cape Breton University Press)
2010
Winner
Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk
SS Atlantic: The White Star Line’s First Disaster at Sea
(Goose Lane Editions)
Finalist
Stephen Kimber
IWK: A Century of Caring for Families
(Nimbus Publishing)
Finalist
Anne Murray (with Michael Posner)
All of Me
(Knopf Canada)
2009
Winner
William D. Naftel
Halifax at War: Searchlights, Squadrons and Submarines 1939 - 1945
(Formac Publishing)
2008
Winner
Marq de Villiers
Witch in the Wind: The True Story of the Legendary Bluenose
(Thomas Allen Publishers)
2007
Winner
Keith McLaren
A Race for Real Sailors: The Bluenose and the International Fisherman's Cup, 1920 -1938
(David R. Godine, Publisher)
2006
Winner
Dean Jobb
The Acadians: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph
(Wiley)
2005
Winner
Paul A. Erickson
Historic North End Halifax
(Nimbus Publishing)
2004
Winner
Elizabeth Pacey
Miracle on Brunswick Street: The Story of St. George's Round Church and the Little Dutch Church
(Nimbus Publishing)
2003
Winner
Stephen Kimber
Sailors, Slacks, and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War
(Doubleday Canada)
2002
Winner
Kate Langan
The Art of Worship: The Vision and Craft of Contemporary Nova Scotian Artists
(Nimbus Publishing)
2001
Winner
Harry Chapman
In the Wake of the Alderney: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 1750 - 2000
(Nimbus Publishing)
2000
Winner
David Frank
J.B. McLachlan: A Biography: The Story of a Legendary Labour Leader and the Cape Breton Coal Miners
(Lorimer)
1999
Winner
James & Rowena Mahar
Too Many to Mourn: One Family's Tragedy in the Halifax Explosion
(Nimbus Publishing)
1998
Winner
Merritt Gibson
The Old Place: A Natural History of a Country Garden
(Nimbus Publishing)
1997
Winner
Lance Woolaver & Bob Brooks
The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis
(Nimbus Publishing)
1996
Winner
J. R. C. Perkin
Ordinary Magic: A Biographical Sketch of Alex Colville
(Lancelot Press)
1995
Winner
Dean Jobb
Calculated Risk: Greed, Politics, and the Westray Tragedy
(Nimbus Publishing)
1994
Co-Winners
Daniel N. Paul
We Were Not The Savages: Collision between European and Native American Civilizations
(Fernwood Publishing)
Leslie Smith Dow
Adèle Hugo: La Misérable
(Goose Lane Editions)
1993
Winner
Sally Ross & Alphonse Deveau
The Acadians of Nova Scotia: Past and Present
(Nimbus Publishing)
1992
Winner
Silver Donald Cameron
Wind, Whales and Whisky: A Cape Breton Voyage
(Macmillan Canada)
1991
Winner
Harry Thurston
Tidal Life: A Natural History of the Bay of Fundy
(Nimbus Publishing)
1990
Winner
Claude Bissell,
Ernest Buckler Remembered
(University of Toronto Press)
1989
Winner
of the Dartmouth Book Award
Harry Bruce
Down Home
(Key Porter Books)
Both fiction and nonfiction titles were eligible for the original Dartmouth Book Award.