Awards

• Nominated for Jean Clarke Awards 2022 (Canada)

Overview

Like many British Columbians in2017, Claudia Cornwall found herself glued to the news about the disastrous wildfires across the province. Her worry was personal: her cabin at Sheridan Lake had been in the family for sixty years and was now in danger of destruction. Cornwall, a long-time writer, was stricken not just by her own experience, but by the many moving stories she came across about the fires-so she began collecting them. She met with people from the communities of Sheridan Lake, Ashcroft, Cache Creek,16Mile House, Lac La Hache, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Hanceville-Riske Creek and Clinton. She hoped to be a conduit for the voices she heard-for those who fought the fires raging around them, those who were evacuated and displaced, and those who could do nothing but watch as their homes burned. She conducted over fifty hours of interviews with ranchers, cottagers, Indigenous residents,RCMP officers, evacuees, store and resort owners, search and rescue volunteers, firefighters and local government officials. Presented inBritish Columbia in Flames are stories that illustrate the importance of community. During the2017wildfires, people looked after strangers who had no place to go. They shared information. They helped each other rescue and shelter animals. They kept stores open day and night to supply gas, food and comfort to evacuees. This memoir, at once journalistic and deeply personal, highlights the strength with whichBCcommunities can and will come together to face a terrifying force of nature.

Full Product Details

9781550178944

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Reviews

The summer of 2017 burnt itself--literally as well as figuratively--into British Columbia's collective memory. Journalist Claudia Cornwall records the worst fire season in provincial history, from the vast indifference of climate change imposing its will upon the landscape to the intensely personal tales of fleeing homesteaders saving their livestock. British Columbia in Flames is simply a terrific book, as literary journalism and as a chronicle of fiery apocalypse, both present and yet to come. Buy it. You won't regret it. --Stephen Hume The people portrayed in this book were plunged into a dramatic situation with very little guidance and often minimal communication. Neighbours, even those who had not previously met, pulled together, organized themselves, protected homes and livestock, and survived. [British Columbia in Flames] is a testament to the kind of resilience and personal resourcefulness that people can arise to in the face of disaster and chaos. --Chris Czajkowski

The summer of 2017 burnt itself--literally as well as figuratively--into British Columbia's collective memory. Journalist Claudia Cornwall records the worst fire season in provincial history, from the vast indifference of climate change imposing its will upon the landscape to the intensely personal tales of fleeing homesteaders saving their livestock. British Columbia in Flames is simply a terrific book, as literary journalism and as a chronicle of fiery apocalypse, both present and yet to come. Buy it. You won't regret it. --Stephen Hume, journalist and author The people portrayed in this book were plunged into a dramatic situation with very little guidance and often minimal communication. Neighbours, even those who had not previously met, pulled together, organized themselves, protected homes and livestock, and survived. [British Columbia in Flames] is a testament to the kind of resilience and personal resourcefulness that people can arise to in the face of disaster and chaos. --Chris Czajkowski, author of Captured by Fire

Author Information

Claudia Cornwall is most recently the author of Battling Melanoma and Catching Cancer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016 and 2013). Her book At the World’s Edge: Curt Lang’s Vancouver, 1937–1998 (Mother Tongue, 2011) was shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award, and Letter from Vienna: A Daughter Uncovers Her Family’s Jewish Past (Douglas & McIntyre, 1995) was awarded the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Cornwall has taught creative writing at Simon Fraser University for many years. She lives in North Vancouver, BC.

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