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  Being Ousted from the Best Seat at the Griffin Poetry Prize Bernard Gauthier (Bravo TV) and myself arrived early at the Griffin Poetry Prize award dinner in Toronto on June 7. The Distillery District hall doors had only been open for a few minutes. We were one of the first to be welcomed by Scott and Krystyne Griffin, the founders and funders of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry. The prize is the largest annual award for a single book of poetry in the world. I had trouble hearing our hosts because of the Mexican mariachi band that had just begun to tune up. I am sure I would have heard all the details about the seating arrangements if I leaned a little closer in. We entered the large exposed brick space that was once used for the fermentation of millions of gallons of liquor. The room soon began to fill with everyone I have read in the past 10 years. Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Christopher Dwedney, Richard Gwyn. There were TV stars journalists, and former governor

Noreen Taylor and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction help promote Canadian books in the United Kingdom The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is giving the nation's book industry assistance in marketing Canadian literature to the people of the United Kingdom. At the International Festival Of Authors (IFOA), held in Toronto over the past two weeks, Noreen Taylor, the founder of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, donated nearly 140 non-fiction books to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), to be used by the Canada High Commission in London, England. The books, all non-fiction titles, were entered for the 2008 Charles Taylor Prize. On stage at IFOA Ms Taylor presented a signed copy of the winning book, Richard Gwyn's "John A.: The Man Who Made Us: The Life and Times of John A. MacDonald, Volume One: 1815-1867 to John Bonar of DFAIT. Pictured left to right are: Authors Lewis Desoto and Richard Gwyn (sea