The first book by Vancouver lawyer-turned-writer Judy McFarlane, Writing with Grace, was shortlisted for the $10,000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction in 2015. It recounts the process of helping a woman with Down syndrome write her own book that is eventually distributed at a World Down Syndrome Congress. The reader learns about Grace's frustrations with the term Down syndrome, her forced sterilization and a heart-wrenching visit to a grandfather who had wanted her institutionalized.

BOOKS:

Writing with Grace: A Journey Beyond Down Syndrome (Douglas & McIntyre, 2014) $24.95 978-1-77162-025-3

[BCBW 2014]