February 27, 2009

UNBC professor Sarah de Leeuw was awarded first prize in the categoryof Creative Non-Fiction at this year’s CBC Literary Awards for her work“Columbus Burning.” The essay concerns last year’s fire at the ColumbusHotel in Prince George, BC and how it affected the lives of theimpoverished people who lived there and in the surrounding community.

Dr. de Leeuw, a Social Science and Humanities researcher who livesnear downtown Prince George says, for her, the fire represents theextent to which persons living in poverty are pushed to the extremitiesof society.

“The burning of the Columbus, which I witnessed first-hand as emergencypersonnel were going about their grim business, made me think more andmore about the lives of those who occupy single-occupancy dwellings,”added de Leeuw. “I think it should give Canadians pause to considerthat some of their fellow citizens are being literally burned alivebecause of their living conditions.”
 
CBC Jury’s Comments:
“Columbus Burning, the story of a fire at The Columbus Hotel, a flophouse housing the nameless disinherited, speaks not just for thedowntown Prince George poor, but for all the impoverished people in thebackwaters of this country. The piece moves deftly between theanonymity of disenfranchisement; the bigotry of bystanders, and thefleeting conscience of the liberal fringe. In the flames that burn isour paradise lost.  Columbus Burning speaks to us, in poignant, subtleand beautiful language, reminding us that our treatment of the namelessand voiceless is a measure of our humanity.”

Sara de Leeuw is an Assistant professor of Medicine in the NorthernMedical program at UNBC where she specializes in Social Sciences andHumanities research.  She is the author of Unmarked: Landscapes alongHighway 16, a collection of creative non-fiction essays exploring thegeographies of her home.

Contact:

Michael Kellett, Communications Officer – 250.960.5621

Sarah de Leeuw, Professor, Northern Medical Program, UNBC -250.640.6763