{"id":20214,"date":"2025-09-13T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/20214\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:00:17","slug":"the-space-between-views-by-laurel-borisenko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/20214\/","title":{"rendered":"The Space Between Views by Laurel Borisenko"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laurel Borisenko\u00a0has made the\u00a02025\u00a0CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0The Space Between Views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The winner of the 2025\u00a0CBC Nonfiction Prize<\/a>\u00a0will receive $6,000 from the\u00a0Canada Council for the Arts<\/a>, a two-week writing residency at\u00a0Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity<\/a>\u00a0and have their work published on\u00a0CBC Books<\/a>. The four remaining finalists will each receive $1,000 from the\u00a0Canada Council for the Arts<\/a>\u00a0and have their work published on\u00a0CBC Books<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shortlist will be announced on Sept. 18\u00a0and the winner will be revealed on Sept. 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in other writing competitions, check out the\u00a0CBC Literary Prizes<\/a>. The 2026\u00a0CBC Short Story Prize<\/a>\u00a0is currently accepting submissions.\u00a0The 2026\u00a0CBC Nonfiction Prize<\/a>\u00a0will open in January and the 2026\u00a0CBC Poetry Prize<\/a>\u00a0will open in April.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

About\u00a0Laurel Borisenko<\/p>\n

Born in Calgary and earning B.Ed and M.Ed from University of Alberta, Laurel Borisenko spent two decades in emergency relief and refugee protection work with UNHCR and international NGOs. Beginning with refugee advocacy in Edmonton before her first international posting to Geneva in 2001, she has since worked in every region of sub-Saharan Africa, from refugee work in Kenya to child protection in eastern Congo. She has contributed chapters to two books and published research in academic journals while earning her PhD from the University of Amsterdam on peacebuilding through the arts. Now retired to Vancouver Island, she is completing a memoir of her international work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Entry in five-ish words<\/p>\n

“Refugees, kidnappings, rescues\u00a0\u2014\u00a0emotional vertigo.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The source of inspiration<\/p>\n

“I arrived in Dadaab refugee camp during the 2011 Horn of Africa famine, which morphed into Al-Shabaab kidnappings of aid workers, one of whom was a personal friend.\u00a0 It seemed so other-worldly to be working in this intense and dangerous setting, then experience the emotional vertigo of being transported, in the time of a flight, back to the oasis of Vancouver Island.\u00a0I’m writing about the challenge of integrating experiences that seem impossible to reconcile.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the readers had to say<\/p>\n

“A slice-of-life tale with engaging writing that brings readers into the minds of Canadian aid workers overseas who are dealing with friendship and fear while facing danger.”<\/p>\n

First lines\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dadaab, Kenya, July 2011<\/p>\n

When I arrive at the UN compound in Dadaab, I’m assigned a small room and bathroom with a shared kitchen. Dadaab is a small remote town surrounded by desert scrubland in eastern Kenya.<\/p>\n

I’ve come here on contract with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, to interview refugee families to see who is eligible for resettlement in countries such as Canada.\u00a0 For the next six months, I will live in this guarded compound, surrounded by barbed wire fence, with all the other humanitarian aid workers.<\/p>\n

Check out the rest of the longlist<\/p>\n

The longlist was selected from more than 1,300 submissions.\u00a0A\u00a0team of 10\u00a0writers and editors from across Canada<\/a>\u00a0compiled the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The jury selects the shortlist and the eventual winner from the readers’ longlisted selections. This year’s jury is composed\u00a0of\u00a0Zoe Whittall, Danny Ramadan and Helen Knott<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The complete\u00a0longlist is:\u00a0<\/p>\n

I married a spy. The secrecy broke my heart.<\/a> by\u00a0Diana\u00a0Bayko (Calgary)\u00a0 The Sensibilities of Dogs<\/a> by\u00a0Antoinette\u00a0Bekker (Medicine Hat, Alta.)\u00a0 The Space Between Views<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Laurel\u00a0Borisenko (Chemainus, B.C.)\u00a0 Day Shift, Night Shift<\/a>\u00a0by Jo-Anne Dusel (Moose Jaw, Sask.)\u00a0 The Pauper<\/a> by\u00a0Izzy\u00a0Ferguson (Dundas, Ont.)\u00a0 Summer Ash<\/a> by\u00a0Rachel\u00a0Foster (Vancouver)\u00a0 Reflections of a Teen Vessel<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Cori\u00a0Francis\u00a0(Barnwell, Alta.)\u00a0 The Boy Who Loved Alice<\/a> by\u00a0Charles\u00a0Hayter (Toronto)\u00a0 A Mother’s Guide to Urban Gardening<\/a> by\u00a0Michelle\u00a0H\u00e9bert (Halifax)\u00a0 I Wash the Purple Water Bottle<\/a> by\u00a0Kelley\u00a0La (Calgary)\u00a0 I got used to You<\/a> by\u00a0Yasmin\u00a0Ladha (Muscat,\u00a0Oman)\u00a0 Death on the Seventh<\/a> by\u00a0Jim Libiran\u00a0(Scarborough, Ont.)\u00a0 Fishing with My Father:\u00a0Reflections on Newfoundland’s Cod Culture<\/a> by\u00a0Boyd\u00a0Lundrigan\u00a0(Spaniard’s Bay, N.L.)\u00a0 Songs for Linda<\/a> by\u00a0Carrie\u00a0Mac (Vancouver)\u00a0 The Invisible Woman<\/a> by\u00a0Laura\u00a0MacGregor\u00a0(Waterloo, Ont.)\u00a0 We are baptized for the dead in Taber\u00a0before going to A&W for burgers and root beer<\/a> by\u00a0Cheryl\u00a0Markosky\u00a0(London, U.K.)\u00a0 Small Miracles<\/a> by\u00a0Anastasia\u00a0McEwen\u00a0(Fergus, Ont.)\u00a0 The First Apartment<\/a> by\u00a0Jennifer\u00a0McGuire (Owen Sound, Ont.)\u00a0 The Home That Crossed Ocean<\/a> by\u00a0Raffi\u00a0Minas (Calgary)\u00a0 Little America<\/a> by\u00a0Nancy\u00a0Newman (Edmonton)\u00a0 The Townie Time Machine<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Ian\u00a0Orti (Berlin, Germany)\u00a0 Cancer Stage Exit 4: A Memoir<\/a> by\u00a0Lena\u00a0Palacios (Montreal)\u00a0 The Art of Falling Overboard<\/a> by\u00a0Loghan\u00a0Paylor (Chilliwack, B.C.)\u00a0 The Dances We Do With Our Children<\/a> by\u00a0Trenton\u00a0Pomeroy (Rothesay, N.B.)\u00a0 36 Views of Mount Royal<\/a> by\u00a0Lorne\u00a0Roberts (Montreal) Out of Love<\/a> by\u00a0Barclay\u00a0Rose (North Cowichan, B.C.)\u00a0 In Case\u00a0I Die<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Crystal Semaganis\u00a0(Bear Island, Ont.)\u00a0 The Morel Moral: A Public Service Announcement<\/a> by\u00a0Shelley Wood (Kelowna, B.C.)\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laurel Borisenko\u00a0has made the\u00a02025\u00a0CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist\u00a0for\u00a0The Space Between Views.\u00a0 The winner of the 2025\u00a0CBC Nonfiction Prize\u00a0will receive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-20214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}