Samantha Mansfield has made the 2017 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for "Bell Island".

Samantha Mansfield is a writer and educator living in Peterborough, Ont. She leads programs for the local home school community, teaches yoga and is currently at work on a YA fantasy novel. She is also involved in the theatre community, has a very energetic dog and delights in well-made food. Her favourite smells are fresh basil and lavender.

Story from my father's childhood.

"I recently asked my father to tell me a story of something that happened to him growing up — and this is what he gave me."

"When the elder Murphys moved away, their son John took over the house and began to build a fence. He told his neighbours, the Mansfield family, that when the fence was finished he would disconnect the piping that led from the well on his land to their front porch. They were using too much of the water, he said. It was time they dug their own well. He knew that it was a hard thing to dig into the rock of the island, but he had troubles of his own.

"It was a terrible thing to do to a family, Malcolm's father said. Each day, when he came home, covered in orange dust from the iron mine where he spent his waking life, he would stare out the kitchen window watching the fence's progress."

The winner of the 2017 CBC Nonfiction Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, will have an opportunity to attend a 10-day writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and have their story published on CBC Books and in Air Canada enRoute magazine. Four finalists will receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their story published on CBC Books.