Joyce Mearon has made the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for The Spirits Are Dancing.

The winner of the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and have the opportunity to 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. 15 and the winner will be announced on Sept. 22.

If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the 2023 CBC Short Story Prize is currently open for submissions until Oct. 31, 2022.

A Canadian certified counsellor, Joyce Mearon obtained her master's degree in psychotherapy & spirituality from St. Stephen's College at the University of Alberta after retirement from her position as a human resources consultant for the municipality of Grande Prairie. She grew up in a Métis settlement in northern Alberta, surrounded by a large extended family. The Spirits are Dancing is her first work of nonfiction other than her master's thesis, Searching for Threads of Spiritual Growth Interwoven into Trauma Healing. Mearon currently lives on a small farm in the Peace River Country in Alberta with her husband Richard.

"Northern lights, heroes and childhood."

"I have always been fascinated by the northern lights. There is something magical and eerie about them. I never forgot the night my uncle Raymond tried to scare us — how terrified we were and how quickly and easily our world became normal and safe again once we realized it was only Raymond at the door. Right now, it feels as though we are rushing toward destruction through fear and ignorance.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could all see beyond the bad stuff we are currently being bombarded with to a world that is still safe and normal — with just a bit more love and kindness for all?

My uncle Raymond turned 71 today. "All he wants," my aunt Rose said, "is for all of us — those of us who speak Cree — to get together for a good visit over coffee and speak only Cree. Just like we used to." My mind went back to the late 1950s when we were all living in the Peavine Métis settlement. I could relate to his wish to relive the old days, the old ways. Those were good times. More innocent times.

Some time after his first wife died, my grandfather married my grandmother. Some of their children were still young enough to be living with them.

The winner of the 2022 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 2023 CBC Short Story Prize is currently open for submissions until Oct. 31, 2022. The 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January 2023 and the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April 2023.