The short list is out – for the richest annual award for a book of non-fiction published in Canada.

And Canadian writer Douglas Coupland is among the five finalists for the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize.  The celebrated Vancouver-based author / artist gets the nod for “Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-Lucent” (Random House Canada)

Other contenders for the big literary prize include University of Toronto professor emeritus Rosemary Sullivan for “Stalin’s Daughter : The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva” (HarperCollins Canada).

Eliott Behar, a war crimes prosecutor from Toronto – makes the cut for “Tell It to the World : International Justice and the Secret Campaign to Hide Mass Murder in Kosovo” (Dundurn Press).

Investigative journalist Dean Jobb of Wolfville, N.S.is a finalist for “Empire of Deception : From Chicago to Nova Scotia – The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated a Nation” (Harper Avenue).

And Lynette Loeppky of Calgary is nominated for “Cease : A Memoir of Love, Loss and Desire” (Oolichan Books).

Each of the Writer’s Trust finalists receives $5,000 – with the winner taking home a total of $60,000 – to be announced at a Gala in Toronto on October 6th.