Meg Warren has made the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Bear Jam.

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.

Meg Warren is an environmental journalist living in Jasper, Alta. She recently finished a writing and environmental studies degree at the University of Victoria and is now learning to navigate the world of freelance writing. Her writing focuses on human relationships with wild places, which she sees as becoming more important as climate chaos continues to change the places we call home. Though she mainly writes creative nonfiction, her poetry can be found in the Antigonish Review.

"We don't always know what's best."

"I found inspiration for this work in a creative nonfiction workshop while studying at the University of Victoria. My professor assigned the class a 'digital cleanse essay' where we were to put away all technology for a week and write from the experience.

"I put my phone in a drawer and, for the first time since junior high, went through my day-to-day life without a smartphone camera in my pocket. This got me thinking about how so many experiences are driven by our desire to capture and share them on social media. In my hometown, Jasper National Park, this desire brings thousands of camera-toting tourists into bears' personal space every summer. While working in Jasper, I see wildlife being approached, crowded and harassed nearly every day.

"With Bear Jam, I hoped to explore the toll that social media driven tourism takes on the wild places to which so many of us escape."

Crisp air rushes off of Jasper National Park's Athabasca River. A flash of light catches your eye through the trees — sunshine off of snow-capped Tekarra mountain. After waking up from a six-month nap, you've just trudged down from there. It's a relief to walk on dry ground, but all you can think about is food. It's been so long since you had a proper meal that you can see your ribs. Ahead of you is a field. You step, blinking, from the forest edge. Patchy, brown grass tickles your paws. Something glints orange in the bushes — berries! You run to the patch and dive in, oblivious to the world around you, even to the highway noise across the field.

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.