Toronto-based author and journalist Alexandra Shimo is among ten authors whose work is longlisted for British Columbia’s National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, one of Canada’s leading literary non-fiction prizes.

Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve is a vivid first-person account of Shimo’s time on a remote First Nations reserve that illuminates a difficult and oft-ignored history. Shimo flew to the remote Northern Ontario reserve of Kashechewan, hoping to document its deplorable living conditions. Instead, she was faced with the dark side of Canadian history and the limits of her own mental stability. 

Praising Invisible North, author Dr. Gabor Maté said, “Anyone who wants to know this country needs to see Kashechewan as depicted in Alexandra Shimo’s vivid and gripping account.”

The BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction is presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of British Columbia to celebrate excellence in the arts, humanities, enterprise, and community service. The shortlist will be announced in December, with the winning book announced in February 2017.