Mairuth Hodge Sarsfield
Mairuth Hodge Sarsfield served in a multitude of roles throughout her life. She was an activist, a diplomat, a journalist, a television personality, and a writer. Born in the Little Burgundy neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec, Sarsfield was educated in Canada, the US, and Ghana. Her first novel was titled I Could Have Murdered Margaret Mead. The geographical location of Little Burgundy influenced her as a writer and appears in her second novel, No Crystal Stair, an autobiographical novel set during and after World War II. The book returned to public imagination in 2005 when it was nominated for CBC’s Canada Reads. Sarsfield was awarded numerous honours, including the Order of Quebec in 1986. For No Crystal Stair, Sarsfield received the first literary award instituted by the National Congress of Black Women.
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