CBC Literary Awards: UNBC Prof Wins First Prize for Non-Fiction
February 27, 2009
UNBC professor Sarah de Leeuw was awarded first prize in the category
of Creative Non-Fiction at this year’s CBC Literary Awards for her work
“Columbus Burning.” The essay concerns last year’s fire at the Columbus
Hotel in Prince George, BC and how it affected the lives of the
impoverished people who lived there and in the surrounding community.
Dr. de Leeuw, a Social Science and Humanities researcher who lives
near downtown Prince George says, for her, the fire represents the
extent to which persons living in poverty are pushed to the extremities
of society.
“The burning of the Columbus, which I witnessed first-hand as emergency
personnel were going about their grim business, made me think more and
more about the lives of those who occupy single-occupancy dwellings,”
added de Leeuw. “I think it should give Canadians pause to consider
that some of their fellow citizens are being literally burned alive
because of their living conditions.”
CBC Jury’s Comments:
“Columbus Burning, the story of a fire at The Columbus Hotel, a flop
house housing the nameless disinherited, speaks not just for the
downtown Prince George poor, but for all the impoverished people in the
backwaters of this country. The piece moves deftly between the
anonymity of disenfranchisement; the bigotry of bystanders, and the
fleeting conscience of the liberal fringe. In the flames that burn is
our paradise lost. Columbus Burning speaks to us, in poignant, subtle
and beautiful language, reminding us that our treatment of the nameless
and voiceless is a measure of our humanity.”
Sara de Leeuw is an Assistant professor of Medicine in the Northern
Medical program at UNBC where she specializes in Social Sciences and
Humanities research. She is the author of Unmarked: Landscapes along
Highway 16, a collection of creative non-fiction essays exploring the
geographies of her home.
