Ciourtney Racicot has made the 2017 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for "Mirror Images".

Courtney Racicot is a federal public servant who was born and raised in northern Ontario. She attended Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, where she lived for 10 years before returning to her hometown of Timmins. Courtney is an advocate for change in the child and family welfare system and adoption processes in Canada. She enjoys spending time with her dogs, scuba diving and horseback riding.

Mutual compassion in extraordinary circumstances.

"Four years ago my then-husband and I took in the baby we thought we would hold forever. A tumultuous year elapsed which ultimately ended in heartbreak when our son was returned to his birth mother. I was left with stories that needed to be shared."

"'I must be some kind of masochist,' is the only thought I can muster as I weave through the throngs of holiday shoppers on my way back to work. With three days before Christmas, shoppers are far more panicked as they try to cross names off their lists. Michael Buble's Christmas CD seems to be on repeat in every store in the mall. And it is only getting harder to keep a store looking full and fresh as the seasonal product dwindles. Holiday seasons are beyond stressful for any person working retail. At this point of the year, I am regularly questioning my sanity for choosing this career path. This year has already proven itself to be nothing short of unbearable. In fact, the holiday stress this year is downright suffocating as my husband and I deal with the grief of being without Aiden at Christmas. Despite having only been parents for a little less than a year, we couldn't seem to remember how to be childless."

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.