Karin Wells
Karin Wells is a CBC Radio documentary maker and a three-time recipient of the Canadian Association of Journalists documentary award. Her work has been heard on radio networks around the world and has been recognized by the United Nations. Wells is also a lawyer and in 2011 was inducted into the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Honour Society. The Abortion Caravan, her first book, was a finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing in 2021 and won the Ontario Historical Society’s Alison Prentice Award the same year. Wells lives in Port Hope, Ontario.
Writers & Books
Award History
2026 - Finalist
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
forWomen Who Woke up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed Women’s Rights in Canada
Jury Citation
“In Women Who Woke Up the Law, Karin Wells reveals how recent the legal evolution toward gender equality in Canada truly is, a realization that is both jarring and illuminating. The untold stories she chronicles are as compelling as they are instructive. For policymakers and voters alike, Wells’ book stands as an important and accessible reminder that progress toward equality is rarely an entirely organic process.”—2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Jury (Norma Dunning, Chantal Hébert, Paul Wells)2021 - Finalist
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
forThe Abortion Caravan: When Women Shut Down Government in the Battle for the Right to Choose
Jury Citation
“The Abortion Caravan is a vibrant tale of a seminal but forgotten time in Canadian feminist history, when a handful of activist women and working moms from across the country were driven to 24 Sussex Drive by their own aspiration and conviction to fight for safer access to abortion. Karin Wells uses deep, original research and energetic writing to expose the ideological and practical ups and downs of the early struggle for reproductive rights in this country. Her book is a poignant revelation of the many small conflicts and victories that led to a pushing of the barriers.” — 2021 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Jury (Peter Dauvergne, Adrian Harewood, and Heather Scoffield)
Works Recognized by WT