When Rokea Murshan first encountered Canadian literature, she was a child in Libya reading Anne of Green Gables in Arabic.
At the time, she did not know she would one day live in Canada, study English at Saint Mary's University, visit Prince Edward Island, or find herself living just a few hours from the landscapes that helped shape L.M. Montgomery's imagination.
Years later, that early literary connection became part of the writing portfolio that helped her receive the 2026 Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award, a $30,000 award presented to an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Arts who identifies as African Nova Scotian or Black/African descended and aspires to a career in writing.
"First and foremost, it's proof of my work," she says. "To know that somebody read my stuff, and really liked it, is really gratifying. There's always a little part of us that wants people to be impressed by the hard work that we put into the things. To be recognized is an amazing feeling."
Rokea is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English, a path that grew out of a lifelong love of reading and a curiosity about how stories travel across languages, cultures and continents.
One of the pieces she submitted for the award explored how Montgomery's writing moved from Canada to Japan and then to the Middle East through translation, animation and popular culture. The Montgomery piece was especially meaningful because it connected her childhood in North Africa to her present life in Nova Scotia.
"That essay was me sharing my first glimpse into the Canadian literary landscape as somebody who didn't even know what PEI and Canada were," she says. "Who would have thought that I would end up living in Halifax."
Finding home in Canada
Rokea grew up in a small village in Libya. Her family's journey to Canada began with her mother, whom she describes as "a genius" and a gifted student who earned scholarships and had the opportunity to study abroad.
"She picked through all these countries and she chose Canada," Rokea says. "She thought it was the safest and had the most opportunities for her kids."
The family arrived in Canada around 2012, when Rokea was about six years old. They first stayed in Toronto, where her uncle lived, before moving through New Brunswick and Saskatchewan and eventually settling in Halifax.
"Canada became my home after that," she says.
Halifax, in particular, has become the place she identifies with most clearly. That feeling of home continued when she chose Saint Mary's. Like many students entering university, Rokea remembers the transition from high school as intimidating. University felt serious, consequential and uncertain.
"It felt like a make-or-break-you kind of thing," she says. "Like this big decision that you have to commit to, and the university you choose and your path there could dictate your life moving forward. What struck me was that Saint Mary's was a very calm, welcoming environment."
Recognition, opportunity and giving back
The Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award was created through the generosity of Floyd Kane BA'92, a Saint Mary's alumnus, writer, filmmaker, lawyer and television producer from East Preston. The award is named in honour of his mother and aunt and is intended to support aspiring writers of African Nova Scotian and Black/African descent.
For Rokea, receiving the award has also changed how she thinks about opportunity. Before applying, she had been talking with friends about work, money, awards and the discouragement that can come from feeling as though opportunities are out of reach.
"I know there are a lot of generous people in this world," she says. "But to think that there are so many of those opportunities, people who want to give or produce those opportunities so close by, is a really nice feeling."
So she decided to test the theory that effort creates possibility.
"I applied for a lot of jobs. I applied for a lot of volunteer positions. I applied for a lot of awards," she says. "Whatever's written for me is going to come find me. All I want to do is just bring myself a little closer to it."
The Kane Writers Award was one of those opportunities.
"When I found out I got an interview, and just the fact that I got close enough for an interview, I already felt like a winner. I'm grateful to be one of the few people who have received this award. People who give back to students I want to be someone like that one day. I hope and I pray that my life can expand in a way that I can give back."
Rokea is already thinking about what comes next. She hopes to pursue a master's degree and is considering education as a future path.
"I want to impress myself with my academic journey," she says. "I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Genuinely. I think everything's going to work out my way."
For Rokea, writing is how she connects with the village where she grew up, the books she read as a child, the university where she found her footing, and the future she can imagine.
"I have so many thoughts about everything and anything," she says.
And now, with the Kane Writers Award behind her and a new chapter ahead, she has even more reason to keep writing them down.
