“As is the case with lives themselves, all memoirs are unique, but this seems especially true of Sonja Larsen’s Red Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary,” said Bruce Gillespie, an award juror and professor in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Digital Media and Journalism program.
“She captures the environment of paranoia, violence, and futility in which she grew up in a stark, frank style that never tugs on readers’ heartstrings or asks for their pity. Instead, Larsen presents a clear-eyed look at her almost unbelievable past and crafts a character study in resilience that is eminently engaging.”
The Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction was established and endowed by writer and award-winning journalist Edna Staebler in 1991. The award is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University, the only university in Canada to bestow a nationally recognized literary award, and recognizes Canadian writers for a first or second work of creative non-fiction that includes a Canadian locale and/or significance.
https://www.wlu.ca/news/news-releases/2017/oct/sonja-larsen-named-2017-winner-of-the-prestigious-edna-staebler-award-for-creative-non-fiction.html