Writer Karen Connelly, seen here in 2007, is one of five authors who've been shortlisted for the 2010 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lefteris Pitarakis)

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A father's struggle to come to terms with his son's disability and a biography of media baron William Randolph Hearst are among the nominees for Canada's richest non-fiction literary prize.

The short list for the 2010 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction includes Ian Brown's "The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for His Disabled Son" and Kenneth Whyte's "The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst."

Karen Connelly's "Burmese Lessons: A Love Story" and Eric Siblin's "The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece" round out the list announced Thursday.

The winner, who will take home $40,000 for the prize, will be announced at a ceremony in Vancouver on Jan. 15.

The award is the non-fiction counterpart to the Giller Prize for fiction and the Griffin Poetry Prize.

To arrive at the short list, a group of jury members first whittled down an initial 149 books to 11 before three members selected the nominees.

The members are television and radio interviewer Vicki Gabereau, author and columnist Philip Marchand and Andreas Schroeder, chair of the University of British Columbia's creative writing department.

In 2008, Lorna Goodison took home the prize for her lyrical family memoir "From Harvey River: A Memory of My Mother and Her People." The book is described as being about place, family and the wondrous strength and solidarity of women.

The annual award was established by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation. The independent group was endowed by the provincial government in 2003.