Noted translator Sheila Fischman tapped for non-fiction book prize jury

Pre-eminent award-winning Canadian translator Sheila Fischman, much acclaimed for capturing the voices of contemporary Quebec writers in her English translations, has been selected as a juror for next year's Charles Taylor Prize.

Noreen Taylor, chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation board of trustees, revealed on Wednesday the panelists who will comprise the 2010 jury.

Governor General's Literary Award-winner Fischman, who has translated more than 125 novels and plays by Quebec writers such as Michel Tremblay, Anne Hbert, Roch Carrier, Jacques Poulin and Hubert Aquin, will be joined by celebrated veteran journalist and Carleton University professor Andrew Cohen.

Canadian War Museum First World War historian Tim Cook, winner of the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for his Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917-1918, rounds out the three-member jury.

Typically, organizers of the $25,000 annual non-fiction writing honour have tapped the latest winner to judge the following year's competition.

Established by Noreen Taylor in memory of her late husband an author, essayist and former Globe and Mail correspondent the Charles Taylor Prize celebrates books by Canadians that demonstrate "a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style and a subtlety of thought and perception."

Past winners have included Richard Gwyn, Carol Shields, Wayne Johnston, Ruby Wiebe and J.B. MacKinnon.