British ColumbiaStill, released on Sept. 1, follows the life of 18-year-old Kayla, a young woman who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, B.C. — a community the author knows well.Joanna Cockerline’s Still follows a woman who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, B.C.Courtney Dickson · CBC News · Posted: Sep 20, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours agoStill, by Joanna Cockerline, is one of the books longlisted for the 2025 Giller Prize. (The Porcupine’s Quill)Joanna Cockerline wears a lot of hats: she’s a lecturer in creative studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, by day, a non-profit founder and street outreach worker by night and now, she’s a Giller Prize-nominated author.Her debut novel, Still, is one of 14 Canadian books longlisted for the distinguished literary award. “It was absolutely incredible just to be told that you’re among the top books in Canada,” Cockerline told CBC’s Daybreak South. “I have tremendous respect for many of the authors on that list, and it’s just a real honour to be among them.”Fourteen books have made the longlist for the 2025 Giller Prize. (Graphic by CBC Books)Still, released on Sept. 1, follows the life of 18-year-old Kayla, a young woman who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, B.C. — a community Cockerline knows well. The writer has long worked with the Okanagan city’s unhoused population, which she now serves through a small, grassroots program called Just Us Street Outreach. Just Us hands out supplies like hygiene items, warm clothing and harm reduction kits. It also offers one-on-one emotional support.”I think we just really need to look out for one another in the community and just be there for people, see people as people,” Cockerline said. “It’s easy in your busy day to just walk on by or not think that someone down the street matters to you. But they do matter and I’m just really wanting to be out there for people.”She said the women she works with in her evening job have been her biggest fans when it comes to the book. “They loved reading it. They felt seen and heard.”In Still, Kayla finds herself living on the streets of Kelowna, where she does sex work. It’s on those streets where she meets Little Zoe, also a sex worker, who goes missing. As Kayla searches for her friend, she gains insight into her own past and into the community she’s now part of.Cockerline hopes the book “cultivates empathy.””It could sound like a depressing book, but it’s actually a book that’s filled with hope,” she said. “Part of that is seeing the beautiful in unexpected places and unexpected moments — and in moments that are painful, still being able to find that beauty and find that joy.”WATCH | Giller Prize cuts ties with Scotiabank following protests:Giller Prize splits with Scotiabank after year of protestsThe Giller Prize has parted ways with its lead sponsor, Scotiabank, more than a year after members of Canada’s literary community began protesting the bank’s ties to an Israeli arms manufacturer. But organizers of the No Arms in the Arts campaign say their boycott of the literary institution will continue. (Photos: The Canadian Press)The Giller Prize is an annual award recognizing excellence in Canadian fiction. The honour comes with a $250,000 cash prize.The shortlist will be made public on Oct. 6, and the winner will be announced in November.You can catch the 2025 Giller Prize award ceremony on Monday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem and CBC’s YouTube channel. It will also be broadcast on CBC Radio One and CBC Listen.ABOUT THE AUTHORCourtney Dickson is an award-winning journalist based in Vancouver, B.C.With files from Daybreak South
Kelowna, B.C., author’s debut novel longlisted for Giller Prize
