BC journo wins book prize

Photo: CBC

Veteran journalist Carol Off has won this year's British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

The Toronto co-host of the CBC Radio current affairs show "As It Happens" won the $40,000 prize Thursday for "All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others" (Random House Canada).

Jury members praised it as "a timely memoir that offers both context to and a closeup of uncomfortable truths: the failures of the West's involvement in Afghanistan, the hurdles confronting refugees who seek safety in Canada, and the dilemma of a combat journalist expected to maintain professional distance from her sources."

Off beat out finalists Ken Dryden, Doug Saunders, and Tanya Talaga.

This year's jury included Jan Walter, Rick Antonson, and Eliza Reid.

The British Columbia Achievement Foundation presents the award, which is open to non-fiction writers from across the country.

Now in its 14th year, it's billed as one of Canada's major national book prizes and the only one to originate in B.C.