Silvia Fiorita-Smith has made the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for You Just Never Know.

Silvia Fiorita-Smith is the daughter of Southern Italian immigrants. She was raised in the colourful neighbourhood of Park Extension in Montreal. She is a graduate of McGill University and Concordia University. She has been a member of the West Island Writers' Group for many years contributing stories to their published anthologies. She was also published in an anthology by Women's Press and has won previous contests for her creative nonfiction and poetry. She is a mother and grandmother living in Pointe- Claire, Que., and teaches ESL part-time.

"I was just blown away."

"Much of my writing borrows from the very interesting and sometimes bittersweet memories of my family of origin. We seemed to just struggle along, putting one foot in front of the other, confronting challenges that life threw our way. We dealt with mental health issues that stigmatized us in the community and the emotional cost was high.

"Sometimes, in spite of the adversities we faced, we were blessed with unexpected opportunities. It often seemed that some unseen hand was reaching out to us, providing comfort and support when times were bleak. Finding out many years later that the little nephew I thought had died was indeed alive and well was one of those incredible times when the light shone through. Finding out that I had met him as a child, with no idea that he was my relative, astounded me and my sensibilities. The odds of something like this happening are as good as winning the lottery. I needed to put this amazing story in writing for people to read, to give someone hope in the future. Because as I titled my story, you just never know what waits around the bend."

Summers in Montreal's Park Extension area were long, hot and monotonous for kids who never got out of it, who didn't go to sleep-away camp or spend a week down on the crowded beaches of Wildwood, New Jersey or Ogonquit, Maine. Their parents didn't own cottages in the Laurentians or swimming pools you could actually swim in. We kids sat for hours on our balconies, slurping Popsicles or chewing gum and beating each other out for the biggest bubble we could blow.

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.