Summer Ash by Rachel Foster - Cbc Literary Prizes

CBC Books features Vancouver writer Rachel Foster's "Summer Ash," which earned a spot on the 2025 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist alongside 27 other compelling entries.

Foster, originally from York, England, now works as a wildlife technician in Vancouver while completing her ecological restoration degree. Her nonfiction piece draws from her 2021 summer contract in the Yukon studying cavity nesters in burn areas, weaving together themes of environmental destruction and personal health challenges. The work explores her experience working in fire-damaged forests while simultaneously dealing with a rare disease that destroyed her hearing bones, creating a powerful parallel between ecological and personal devastation.

• The CBC Nonfiction Prize winner receives $6,000, a Banff Centre residency, and publication on CBC Books
• Foster's piece examines climate change impacts in northern Canada through the lens of personal medical struggles
• The shortlist announcement is September 18, with the winner revealed September 25
• The longlist was selected from over 1,300 submissions by a panel of Canadian writers and editors