Carla Powell has been dealt some hardship throughout her life, but her constant companion through it all has been her journals.
Now her writing has been recognized on a national level. She has been shortlisted for the 2017 CBC Nonfiction Prize for her story “The Road to Machu Picchu Starts at 385 lbs." This was the second time she has entered her writing.
The Drumheller native, many will remember for her long tenure at the Atlas Coal Mine, now resides in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Her mother Jean Powell was an English teacher who taught at DCHS and the Big Country Educational Consortium, and writing has always been part of her life.
“I have been writing for a very long time, I just haven’t really pushed it out into the public forum before, and this was one of the results,” she said.
The piece she submitted is very personal, but she is undeterred in sharing her story.
“The world has thrown a lot of heaviness my way and I think that makes for very good subject matter to pull from when you have a rollercoaster life. So when I look for things to write I don’t’ have to go very far,” she said.
“I’m a big fan of speaking truth and I look for people in my life that do the same thing, It’s hard for me to even be around people who hide who they are or don’t bring forward their stories in their life.”
Powell lost her parents early, her brother was the victim of a drunk driver, and her first boyfriend took his own life. The loss of best friend Krista Boyko, who passed away in 2012, had a profound effect on Powell.
“I was feeling ungrounded.”
In September of last year, she climbed Machu Picchu, and then in February, sat down and tied it all together in her story.
“I had come back from the trek and was feeling very calm and euphoric when I finished. I felt accomplished. It was a very hard trek and not for the faint of heart by any means, but I didn’t find it as difficult as I made it out to be in my head,” she said. “I had this calm, and it allowed space to come forward in my mind to have words jumping in.”
The story unfolded from there.
She doesn't apologize for it being so personal.
“If you are writing and it makes you slightly uncomfortable, it is probably going to resonate with people.”
She knew the contest entry was coming up and she worked the piece until she felt it was ready to submit. A short time later, she received an email that she was long listed. On Tuesday morning, September 12, she found out she made the short list.
This means she is one of 6 finalists.
“It was so exciting for me because somehow I floated to the top of all these entries,” said Powell.
The works were blindly adjudicated, and her work was along side dozens of other writers, many who are published authors.
Some notable writers who have won CBC Literary prizes include Carol Shields and Michael Ondaatje.
“I feel like I have already won. There is a euphoria in me that I feel my writing has merit,” she said.
The winner will be revealed on September 19. The award is adjudicated by Carmen Aguirre, Dave Bidini, and Charlotte Gray.
