A Canadian Geographic
“Favourite Book of 2018”

After plans to live in Africa shatter, young journalist Laurie Sarkadi moves to the Subarctic city of Yellowknife seeking wilderness and adventure. She covers the changing socio-political worlds of Dene and Inuit in the late ‘80s—catching glimpses of their traditional, animal-dependent ways—before settling into her own off-grid existence in the boreal forest. There, she experiences motherhood and its remarkable synchronicities with the lives of caribou, dragonflies and other creatures.

As a mother, and as a journalist, Sarkadi speaks up for abused women and children, creating controversies that entangle her in long, legal battles. When she looks to animals and the natural world for solace, she encounters magic. Lessons from the natural world arrive weekly, if not daily: black bears roam her dreams, as well as her deck, teaching introspection; wolves inspire her to persevere.

This evocative memoir explores a more than two-decade long physical and spiritual journey into the wild spaces of northern Canada, around the globe and deep within.

Latest Blog Posts

Blog
Writing My Way Out of the Fires
Writing My Way Out of the Fires

This is me, on my couch. Or rather this is how Mary Sanche pictured how I’d look, and feel on my couch during the long winter of 2023 after the wildfire evacuations that summer – combined with other life-altering events – unmoored me. I’ve never met Mary. I don’t know if they knew anything more about me than the personal essay I’d written for Canadian Geographic about the mental health impacts of climate change. But this illustration rendered for that article resonates deeply.

Music

Travel Story: My Free Trip To Santa Fe

What’s New with Laurie

This was a challenging story to write, a deep dive into the mental health impacts of the climate crisis. It’s out now in the May/June issue of @cangeo My research took me into some jarring places and my editors bravely let me go there. The illu
This was a challenging story to write, a deep dive into the mental health impacts of the climate crisis. It’s out now in the May/June issue of @cangeo My research took me into some jarring places and my editors bravely let me go there. The illustrations by @thoughtsupnorth (Mary Sanche) made me gasp. We’ve never spoken but it’s like they travelled alongside me last winter. Even though stories like this take a lot out of me, they give back so much more. If you can no longer hold the cognitive dissonance of living inside a climate crisis and pretending you’re not, this is for you. Thanks as well to @courtghoward, Elder Roy Fabian and @kiray0ung for their insights. Special thanks to @_sarahwilson_ whose book serialization on collapse felt like a girlfriend whispering secrets at night after watching a horror movie at a sleepover. You can find my article in Canadian Geographic on magazine racks for now and online eventually. #climatechange #climatecrisis #climateanxiety #collapse #biodiversity #magazines #NWT #Arctic #mentalhealth
What a great gift to enjoy #FolkontheRocks2024 with my grandkids, much the same way I did with their fathers. #Yellowknife #festivals #livemusic #toocute @folkontherocks
What a great gift to enjoy #FolkontheRocks2024 with my grandkids, much the same way I did with their fathers. #Yellowknife #festivals #livemusic #toocute @folkontherocks
The season of reflection has begun #NWT #Denendeh #waterislife #clouds
The season of reflection has begun #NWT #Denendeh #waterislife #clouds
Hard to believe this isn’t even all of us 😅 Thanks #Snowking and all who help put on such a fab festival.
Hard to believe this isn’t even all of us 😅 Thanks #Snowking and all who help put on such a fab festival.
I love winter so much. #NWT #borealforest #hokskiing
I love winter so much. #NWT #borealforest #hokskiing
She’s lame but always game to go hok skiing in paradise with me. #winter #NWT #dogs #northernspecial #borealforest #Denendeh
She’s lame but always game to go hok skiing in paradise with me. #winter #NWT #dogs #northernspecial #borealforest #Denendeh
Here’s my take on last summer’s evacuation and climate change. Visit up here.ca #nwtwildfires #climate #evacuations #uphere #magazines #features #arctic #Yellowknife #globalwarming
Here’s my take on last summer’s evacuation and climate change. Visit up here.ca #nwtwildfires #climate #evacuations #uphere #magazines #features #arctic #Yellowknife #globalwarming
We did it! Completed four weeks of the first ever Northern Journalism Training Initiative, pictured here at #CBC Inuvik. Thanks to Louie Goose, Kaila Jefferd Moore and my co-trainer Deneze Nakehk’o for a ton of effort into making this happen.
We did it! Completed four weeks of the first ever Northern Journalism Training Initiative, pictured here at #CBC Inuvik. Thanks to Louie Goose, Kaila Jefferd Moore and my co-trainer Deneze Nakehk’o for a ton of effort into making this happen. And of course all the students!! If you’re in Inuvik join us for our showcase Saturday, April 22, 12-3 at the Midnight Sun Complex. #JournalismMatters #TruthTellers #IndigenousStorytelling #Inuvik #NWT #NJTI @njti.ca
Made it to Inuvik! Just two days until I meet the participants in our Northern Journalism Training Initiative. Expect some badassery over the next four weeks. #truthtellers #journalismmatters #iceroad #media #BeaufortDelta #NWT #Arctic #Inuvik @njti.
Made it to Inuvik! Just two days until I meet the participants in our Northern Journalism Training Initiative. Expect some badassery over the next four weeks. #truthtellers #journalismmatters #iceroad #media #BeaufortDelta #NWT #Arctic #Inuvik @njti.ca
I’m tucked into the fairy section of the Yellowknife Book Cellar today, pen at hand. Feeling whimsical. Come on down!
I’m tucked into the fairy section of the Yellowknife Book Cellar today, pen at hand. Feeling whimsical. Come on down!
This was a challenging story to write, a deep dive into the mental health impacts of the climate crisis. It’s out now in the May/June issue of @cangeo My research took me into some jarring places and my editors bravely let me go there. The illu What a great gift to enjoy #FolkontheRocks2024 with my grandkids, much the same way I did with their fathers. #Yellowknife #festivals #livemusic #toocute @folkontherocks The season of reflection has begun #NWT #Denendeh #waterislife #clouds Hard to believe this isn’t even all of us 😅 Thanks #Snowking and all who help put on such a fab festival. I love winter so much. #NWT #borealforest #hokskiing She’s lame but always game to go hok skiing in paradise with me. #winter #NWT #dogs #northernspecial #borealforest #Denendeh Here’s my take on last summer’s evacuation and climate change. Visit up here.ca #nwtwildfires #climate #evacuations #uphere #magazines #features #arctic #Yellowknife #globalwarming We did it! Completed four weeks of the first ever Northern Journalism Training Initiative, pictured here at #CBC Inuvik. Thanks to Louie Goose, Kaila Jefferd Moore and my co-trainer Deneze Nakehk’o for a ton of effort into making this happen. Made it to Inuvik! Just two days until I meet the participants in our Northern Journalism Training Initiative. Expect some badassery over the next four weeks. #truthtellers #journalismmatters #iceroad #media #BeaufortDelta #NWT #Arctic #Inuvik @njti. I’m tucked into the fairy section of the Yellowknife Book Cellar today, pen at hand. Feeling whimsical. Come on down!