Corrie Melanson selected as 2026 Susan Buchanan Hideout scholar

Nova Scotia writer and Corrie Melanson has been selected as winner of the 2026 Susan Buchanan Hideout scholarship.

Melanson will spend a week at The Hideout this season working on her book project, Safe Harbour, Stories of Rainbow Refugees in Atlantic Canada. This narrative nonfiction book centres queer refugee and private sponsorship stories in Atlantic Canada, with a focus on lived experience, care, and belonging.

We’re delighted to welcome Melanson to The Hideout and to support this important project. Each year we receive so many strong applications for the Susan Buchanan Hideout scholarship and this year we no exception. Applicants this season were of a high calibre and proposed projects ranged from academic inquiry, poetry, screenwriting, fiction, fantasy, and more.

Corrie Melanson (she/they) is a facilitator, trainer, and writer based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia. She is the Strategy and Learning Lead at Sea Change CoLab, where she designs practical learning experiences that advance accessibility and inclusive employment. Corrie works with employers and community partners to turn equity into action.

Winner of multiple Island Literary Awards, as well as a PEI Book Award, Susan Buchanan was a well-loved and deeply admired Island writer and disability rights activist who co-owned a bed and breakfast called Evening Primrose on the Hideout property in North Tryon with her life partner Jeanne Sullivan.