Toronto writer Noah Richler is this year's winner of the $25,000 British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for This is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell presented Richler with the award Thursday in Vancouver.

Noah Richler is this year's winner of the $25,000 British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
(Barbara Stoneham)

The jury's citation hailed Richler's work for reflecting "upon Canadian identity and sense of place through a sustained examination of the role played by writers of fiction in nation-building."

The book, based on a 10-part series Richler did for CBC Radio's Ideas, is a "window onto Canadian writing in the present day," the jury said.

Richler interviewed more than 100 Canadian writers and in the book reflects on the communities they represent. The Literary Atlas also makes a strong argument that literature matters.

The other finalists for the awards were:

• Marian Botsford Fraser for Requiem for My Brother.
• Gerta Moray for Unsettling Encounters.
• Dragan Todorovic for The Book of Revenge.

It's the third year for the prize, which is given for literary non-fiction published in English anywhere in Canada. Previous winners were Patrick Lane and Rebecca Godfrey.

The annual award is one of three developed by the B.C. Achievement Foundation from a $6-million provincial endowment. The others are the B.C. Community Achievement Awards and the B.C. Creative Achievement Awards.