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Nelson writer wins literary award

Rayya Liebich has won the Federation of BC Writers award for creative non-fiction
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Nelson writer Rayya Liebich has won the Federation of BC Writers award for her piece entitled The Happiest Baby. Photo: Thomas Nowa Photography

Submitted by the Federation of BC Writers

The Federation of BC Writers is pleased to announce that Nelson writer Rayya Liebich won the Creative Non-Fiction Award in its recent FBCW Literary Contest.

Liebich’s creative non-fiction piece The Happiest Baby was chosen for top place by judge Christina Myers, who said in praise, “The very best creative non-fiction is the kind that shares itself, boldly, in hopes that the words themselves will be a lifesaver.”

According to Myers, The Happiest Baby does exactly that.

“It deviates from the assumed in stark, baring language and intimate detail. Sharing the early days of new motherhood in this short, hermit-crab style essay – which explores this period of time using the framework of the five steps from a well-known book on babies – the author steps away from the sugar-coating and bares all.”

Liebich is an award-winning Canadian poet of Lebanese and Polish descent. Passionate about writing as a tool for transformation and changing the discourse on grief, she teaches creative writing classes to youth, adults, and seniors.

Her story The Happiest Baby will be published later in 2023 in an anthology of the longlisted, shortlisted and winning pieces submitted to the FBCW 2022 Literary Contest. You can learn more about Liebich at https://www.rayyaliebich.com/.