Sarah de Leeuw is a Canadian writer who wrote Unmarked: Landscapes Along Highway 16.

A native of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, she grew up in Duncan

Duncan, British Columbia

Duncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan . He arrived in Victoria in May 1862, then in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay...

, Queen Charlotte Islands

Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...

 and Terrace

Terrace, British Columbia

Terrace is a city on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The Kitselas people, a tribe of the Tsimshian Nation, have lived in the Terrace area for thousands of years. The community population fell between 2001 and 2006 from 12,109 with a regional population of 19,980 to 11,320 and...

. She has worked as a tug boat driver, logging camp cook and journalist. She earned a degree from the University of Victoria

University of Victoria

The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...

 where she worked on the student newspaper, The Martlet

The Martlet

The Martlet is a weekly student newspaper at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. There are over a dozen employees on the payroll, but significant work is done by student volunteers . The Martlet is funded partially by student fees, and partially by advertisements...

.

Her book Unmarked: Landscapes Along Highway 16 (2004) reflects her interest in geography and small communities in British Columbia. The book is a series of short essays, each linked to a specific place, evoking the local geography and community, and often linked to memories from de Leeuw's childhood.

She won the CBC Literary Award for creative non-fiction in 2009 with "Columbus Burning", and placed second the following year with "Quick-quick. Slow. Slow."