Author Pauline Dakin named 2018 winner of the prestigious Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction

Sept. 21, 2018 
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – Author Pauline Dakin is the winner of the 2018 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for her memoir, Run, Hide, Repeat: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood (Viking). 

“This is a true story unlike any other you’ve read that will keep you guessing from beginning to end,” said Bruce Gillespie, an award juror and professor in Laurier’s Digital Media and Journalism program. “More than just a mystery, Dakin’s memoir is also a moving reflection on the complexity of family relationships.”

ABOUT THE EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION

The $10,000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction recognizes Canadian writers for a first or second work of creative non-fiction that includes a Canadian locale and/or significance. Established and endowed by writer and award-winning journalist Edna Staebler in 1991, the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University.

““All the elements of a great thriller.””
— Liam Stack

BBC

““Stories that shape us.””
““This is a well-paced and engrossing memoir where Dakin’s skills as long-time CBC health reporter uncover one final, startling revelation.””
— Jade Colbert
““A story you won’t soon forget””
— Sarah Murdoch
““An extraordinary memoir.””
— Lisa Cochrane
““Dakin has just written a remarkable new memoir about the surreal youth she and her brother shared.””
— Paula Simons
““A dark Wizard of Oz-like feel.””
— Douglas J. Johnston

New Zealand Herald

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you — when you're older I will tell you."

And so that would become the line that she would hear for the next 16 years of her life every time they would suddenly move house or something strange would happen.

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