Donna Seto has made the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Generation Congee.

Donna Seto is a writer and academic from Vancouver. She recently completed her first novel, War is a Thief, a speculative thriller situated in 2048 after right-wing governments have outlawed ethnic foods, religious symbols and interracial relationships. She has a PhD in international relations and works at the University of British Columbia. Her first book, No Place for a War Baby, questions the treatment of war rape survivors and their children. She is currently working on a collection of short stories as well as a memoir on her parent's struggle as immigrants in Canada.

"Second-generation navigating cancer treatment."

"The first time I met my father was in 1983, when I was two years old. Having been the first to leave their small village in southeastern China, my mother settled in Canada before sponsoring my father to join us. While I was growing up, my father worked a series of jobs in Vancouver and Saskatoon, but he never became fluent in the English language. In 2015, at the age of 67, my father was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. The experience unraveled a wealth of emotions in me, such as frustration with my inability to communicate clearly with my parents. What I dreaded most about the experience was being the first one to learn the diagnosis, then putting on my best poker face ⁠— swallowing back tears, taking a deep breath and remaining calm as I tried to translate what the doctor just said ⁠— and then having to watch my parents express the emotions that I had just held back: confusion, shock, disbelief."

On a given day, the view from the sixth floor of the BC Cancer Agency resembles a tourism advertisement of glass-towers pasted onto a backdrop of snow capped mountains. The view of the North Shore mountains ⁠— easily mistaken as freshly dusted bundt cakes ⁠— was one of the highlights of our biweekly chemotherapy appointments. But my parents never noticed the view, nor did they comment on the crisp rays of sunshine reflected on multi-million dollar shoeboxes or the steady flow of traffic on the Cambie Street Bridge that resembled cells moving through the arteries of the city. Their solemn faces and hushed immigrant voices were indifferent to the therapy dog named Sam or the volunteer-operated beverage cart that makes the best hot chocolate west of Main Street.

The winner of the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The shortlist will be announced on Sept. 18, 2019. The winner will be announced on Sept. 25, 2019.