Trina Moyles: The Fire Lookout Who Wrote About Bears and Her Brother

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For several summers, Trina Moyles lived high above the boreal forest in a fire tower in northern Alberta, scanning the horizon for smoke. Black bears were her closest neighbours. Out of those seasons, and out of her relationship with her brother, she wrote Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival, now a finalist for the 2026 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Moyles, who lives in Whitehorse, describes herself as an author, environmental journalist and creative producer.

Growing up in the boreal forest

Moyles grew up in Peace River, Alberta, in Treaty 8 territory, and spent much of her childhood in the forest. Her father was a wildlife biologist, and she developed a lifelong interest in black bears. Before she climbed her first lookout tower, she worked for human rights organizations and with rural communities in Central America, Cuba, Canada and East Africa, with a focus on social and environmental justice.

From farmers to fire towers

Her first book, Women Who Dig: Farming, Feminism, and the Fight to Feed the World (University of Regina Press, 2018), profiles women farmers around the world. It was a finalist for the High Plains Literary Awards and is being adapted into a documentary film.

Her first memoir, Lookout: Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest (Random House Canada, 2021), follows two demanding summers alone in a remote tower in northern Alberta. It also documents how wildfire in Canada’s north is becoming harder to predict. Lookout won a National Outdoor Book Award.

In 2022 she received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award, the province’s highest honour for the arts. Her essay “Herd Memory” won the Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award in 2019 and a National Magazine Award for personal journalism in 2020.

Black Bear: four summers and a sibling bond

Black Bear, published by Knopf Canada on January 6, 2026, covers four summers of watching bears from her tower, mostly with only her dogs for company. One of the bears she came to know was a mother she named Osa. Over time, her fear turned into respect and real fondness.

Alongside the bears is the story of her brother, who worked in the oil sands. The publisher calls the book a meditation on sibling loss and on her search for common ground with him. The memoir also looks at conflict between people and bears and at the pressures of a changing climate.

A Writers’ Trust finalist

The Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction is one of the country’s top awards for nonfiction. In 2026 the jury of Katherine Ashenburg, Debra Thompson and Joshua Whitehead chose five finalists from 113 submitted books. The winner receives $75,000 and each finalist receives $5,000. The winner will be named at the Writers’ Trust Awards in Toronto on November 10, 2026.

Moyles shares the shortlist with Richard Kelly Kemick, Robert Moor, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Dan Werb.

Where to learn more

You can read more about Moyles and watch a short video about Black Bear on her Writers’ Trust author page. Her own website is trinamoyles.com. Black Bear is available from Canadian bookstores and public libraries.

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