Carol Off is a Canadian journalist, commentator, and author associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio One’s As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld
In 2002, Carol Off and a CBC TV crew encountered an Afghan man…
Winner of the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
Finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
Finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction
Finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction
“With clear, page-turning prose, Off embarks on a rigorous and honest examination of her role in the family’s fate, first as a journalist, but ultimately as a friend, when she crosses the line of dispassionate reportage and becomes deeply involved in their bid to reach Canada. The book is an insightful contemplation of journalism’s mission, and its impact on the lives of the people who dare to speak out in the name of truth.” —2017 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction jury (Susan Harada, Arno Kopecky and Siobhan Roberts)
“[C]aptivating prose and painful honesty. . . . Off has pulled off the veil and ignited a conversation about the moral obligation of journalists in the field.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“[Off] deftly weaves together a taut narrative that shuttles from a history of politics in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan to episodes as a foreign correspondent covering Canadian forces in Kandahar. . . . Throughout the book, Off struggles with the moral imperative behind her profession. . . . The journalist’s best day may be someone else’s worst. . . . All We Leave Behind is a fascinating tale about how one reporter’s request turns an extraordinary family’s life upside down, combined with a cogent examination of her own attempt to hold on to her humanity.” —Quill & Quire
“Off’s book reads like a thriller.” —Windsor Star
“[R]iveting. . . . [All We Leave Behind] is at once history lesson, political-science course, biography and scathing indictment of both Canada’s and the United Nations’s refugee programs.” —The Collection