Chantal Daniels-Batt has made the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Road Trip Home.

Chantal Daniels-Batt is a member of the Anishnaabeg of Naongashiing in Lake of the Woods, Ont. As an undergrad who majored in foreign languages, she failed her university's mandatory English writing proficiency exam and had to complete a semester of remedial writing before being allowed to graduate. Chantal ​​​​​​took a writing workshop with author Brian Doyle and he encouraged her to develop her as then untitled story, Going Home. Chantal does not consider herself a writer, but as someone who occasionally has a story to tell. She lives in Ottawa, where she works on residential school commemorations at Parks Canada.

"Final trip home with mother."

"I wanted to capture what was to become the very last trip that I'd share with my mother to her home in Lake of the Woods and to tell a story that other residential school families might be able to relate to."

"WHY do you want to go there?"

"To see where Granny went to school," I replied as I got us lost on the outskirts of Kenora.

Every August, Mom and I made road trips home to visit family. Journey 2013 almost didn't happen because my mother had just lost her sister and going home would remind her of that. Then she announced, "Let's go!"

Beautiful Lake of the Woods is home to my mother's family. Joe Canadian would call it "cottage country," but it's more than that to us — it's the home of our Ojibway ancestors. Where our ancestors surround us, reminding us of how far we've drifted from them, but simultaneously celebrating our homecoming.

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.