2019 Siskiyou Prize Winner

Nadja Lubiw-Hazard

Nadja Lubiw-Hazard is a writer and veterinarian who holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Guelph and a post-graduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers. Her work has been published in Fiddlehead, Understorey, Room, Canthius, The Dalhousie Review, and The New Quarterly. Her first novel, The Nap-Away Motel, was published by Palimpsest Press in May 2019. She is currently working on several picture books about animals and a second novel, Saving Seraphina. A lifelong animal lover and longtime vegan, Nadja’s writing often explores themes related to the natural world. She lives in Toronto with her wife, their two daughters, an old black pug, and a feisty, fluffy kitten. Visit her online at www.nmlhazard.com.

Siskiyou Prize judge Deb Olin Unferth has this to say about Nadja's award-winning manuscript:

"The Life of a Creature is a beautiful and complex book. The stories weave through the emotional terrain of death and love, and of the roles that animals play in our lives, their intertwined relationship to us. I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. It's different in the best way, the passion of a singular voice and vision."

Finalists

• Animals’ Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and in the Wild (The University of Chicago Press) by Barbara J. King
• MY OCEANS: A MOTHER’S PATH THROUGH ECO-GRIEF by Christina Cogswell

Semi-finalists

• Black Lion: Alive in the Wilderness (Jonathan Ball Publishers) by Sicelo Mbatha & Bridget Pitt
• Wild and Wilful: Tales of 15 Iconic Indian Species (HarperCollins India) by Neha Sinha
• A MOST NATURAL THING: A MEMOIR THROUGH LANDSCAPE by Lisbeth White
• Chemical Valley (Biblioasis) by David Huebert