Foundation Certificate alum Cynthia Gralla’s essay “I’m Childless, Not Kinshipless” is included in the anthology: Best Canadian Essays 2026. Originally published in Prairie Fire, the piece explores cultural perceptions of childlessness, the nature of family, and how relationship choices about shape women’s identities in society today.

Having made the decision to forego having children, Cynthia reflects on how childless women are portrayed in both fairy tales and contemporary discourse. She hopes that readers of this essay recognize that both women with children and women without them are needed to create a rich, compelling, sustainable society marked by care and education for all children and robust women’s rights. Above all, she wants there to be more than one story about a woman without children.