Sandra Murdock reads her story “No is a Complete Sentence,” developed during her participation in the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program (writers.ns.ca/programs-awards/alistair-macleod-mentorship-program) under the guidance of mentor Lorri Neilsen Glenn. Illustrations by Marijke Simons.

Sandra Murdock received the 2018 CBC Nonfiction Prize and has published poetry and CNF in echolocation, The Antigonish Review, and Mslexia. Currently, she is working on a mixed-form memoir. Mentor Lorri Neilsen Glenn on Sandra Murdock’s writing: Sandra Murdock is a fierce and fearless writer. She has a gift for knowing what’s true in a moment and the courage to bend and blur literary forms to mine the emotional heart of a memory. Sandra faces the hard truths of living with—and experiencing the death of—a former partner with alcoholism, casting light on the nature of a layered and complicated grief. The result is a manuscript that skillfully shapes fragmented, episodic, sometimes disorienting and always deeply-felt moments into an affecting and innovative work. Sandra’s award-winning craft, her literary acumen, along with her insight and compassion combine to create a lyrical work both unflinching and generous.