Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places, by Christopher Pollon, Receives Widespread Award Recognition
Vancouver, BC––Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places, written by Christopher Pollon and published by Greystone Books in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute, has received two prestigious literary prizes and been named to two notable awards shortlists this fall.
A rigorously researched account of the past, present, and future of global mining, Pitfall won the 2024 Science in Society Journalism Book Award; placed First in the 2024 Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society Competition for British Columbian Authors of Nonfiction; is a Finalist for the 2024 Banff Centre Mountain Book Competition in the Environmental Literature category; and is a Finalist for the 2024 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
Pitfall launched in the fall of 2023 to wide acclaim, receiving positive attention and reviews in media outlets around the world including the Guardian, BNN Bloomberg, the Sydney Morning Herald, Mother Jones, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and more. New York Times bestselling author Wade Davis praised the book as “a harrowing and ruthlessly honest account that serves as a moral reckoning for our industrial age,” while renowned environmental writer J.B. MacKinnon lauded the book as “just the primer we need to truly imagine a better future.”
“Writing Pitfall was a very solitary, all-encompassing endeavor, so getting this recognition means so much to me,” said Christopher Pollon, an independent journalist who reports on the politics of natural resources. He continued: “The awards present an opportunity for my book to reach a wider audience and become part of a necessary conversation about the future––not just about mining, but how our civilization can collectively respond to climate change.”
Jen Gauthier, Publisher, Greystone Books, said: “We are immensely proud to publish Pitfall and are delighted with the well-deserved attention that Christopher and the book are receiving. Pitfall is a vital book that lays bare the real human and environmental costs of Big Mining while also offering a vision for how the industry can better serve the needs of humanity.”
The Banff Mountain Book Competition Prize will be announced on October 31, 2024, at the Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival. The Balsillie Prize for Public Policy, which awards a cash prize of $60,000 to the winning author, will be announced at an awards gala in Toronto on November 26, 2024.