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Thick Skin by Hilary Peach book cover
Thick Skin Reading Guide

Thick Skin Reading Guide

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Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister in the Brotherhood by Hilary Peach is the winner of the 2024 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.

For over two decades, Hilary Peach worked as a travelling welder—and one of the few women—in the Boilermakers Union. Drawn from journals, notes and sharp observations, Thick Skin (Anvil Press) traces her journey from West Coast shipyards to Alberta's tar sands, Ontario's rust belt and the massive power stations of the Eastern Seaboard. Blending the surreal with the gritty, this collection of vivid stories offers a raw, tender glimpse into the unseen world of industrial construction

Included in this guide: 

Learn more about Edna Staebler, her award and the genre of creative non-fiction.

Synopsis

Hilary Peachʼs Thick Skin is a raw, immersive memoir that chronicles more than two decades of her life as a transient welder—one of the few women navigating the rugged, male-dominated world of industrial construction. Drawing from a trove of journals and observations, Peach crafts a vivid, at times surreal, portrait of life on the road and in the trades, blending personal anecdotes with larger themes of resilience, camaraderie and the challenges of carving out space in an often-unforgiving industry. From the shipyards and pulp mills of British Columbia to the sprawling oil sands of Alberta, the crumbling factories of the Ontario rust belt and the massive power plants along the Eastern Seaboard, Peach takes readers deep into the hidden world of the Boilermakers Union. Along the way, she encounters a cast of rough-edged characters, each with their own stories and quirks, while enduring the physical toll and psychological strain of the job. Her storytelling balances tenderness with ferocity, capturing both the alienation and deep bonds forged in this itinerant life. With humor, grit and poetic precision, Thick Skin offers a glimpse into a world rarely seen by outsiders, appealing to anyone with an interest in labour, gender dynamics in the trades or the raw beauty of blue-collar work.

About Author

Hilary Peach has released three audio-poetry projects (Poems Only Dogs Can Hear, Suitcase Local and Dictionary of Snakes) and a collection of poems, BOLT (Anvil Press 2019). For 20 years she worked as a welder for the Boilermakers Union, dabbled in blacksmithing, and produced unusual art projects on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. She is now a boiler inspector for the provincial safety authority and is writing a novel.

Discussion Questions

  1. In Thick Skin, Hilary Peach shares her experiences as a woman working in a maledominated field. How do they compare with your own experiences at work? How did her story make you think differently about being part of the majority or minority in a field or trade?
  2. Peachʼs memoir is full of dramatic moments on the job, as well as moments of humour. Why do you think she chose to include both? What do they add to the story? Which moments made you laugh or feel deeply connected to her perspective?
  3. How does Peach's work as a welder shape her identity throughout her career? Do you think itʼs possible to separate who you are from what you do for a living?
  4. The title suggests that these are “field notes.” How did this framing influence the way you read the book? How do you think the book would be received by women in the trades or women thinking about a career in the trades?
  5. Which stereotypes about welders—or women in trades—did this book challenge or reinforce for you? Do you agree with Peachʼs mentors that in some (or all) professions you need to acquire a “thick skin” to survive?
  6. Peach shares her triumphs and struggles. Which moments in the book did you find particularly inspiring or relatable in terms of overcoming adversity?
  7. Were you surprised by any of the interactions between Peach and the men she worked with? How do you think her story speaks to broader societal attitudes about gender in the workplace?
  8. Peachʼs work often demands long hours, travel and physical endurance. How does this resonate with your own experiences of balancing work, family and personal life?
  9. How does Peach use the techniques of creative nonfiction, such as point of view, character and dialogue, to create an engaging exploration of her career journey?
  10. In the CBC Radio One: Ideas episode An Outsider in the Trades (see: Further Resources), Peach shares her unique perspective on the role of women in the trades and calls for the trades to become more welcoming not only to women but queer, trans and non-binary people, too. How does this episode expand on the themes of her book, and what new insights did it bring to your understanding of the challenges of working in maledominated fields?
  11. What did you take away from Peachʼs story? How did it inspire you to think differently about your own life or the lives of those working in unconventional careers?

What the Judges Said

“I love a book that surprises me, and in this case, I was very surprised by how engrossed I became in the life of an itinerant boilermaker,” said Bruce Gillespie, an award juror and associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. “That the book is so engaging is a testament to Peachʼs skill as an author. She gives us unrestricted access to dangerous, high-stress workplaces that we would otherwise never see for ourselves and shows us the challenges that women face there to be taken seriously and treated as equals.”

Further Resources

An Outsider in the Trades
Ideas, CBC Radio One (Posted May 1, 2024)
Listen to this recording of the presentation Hilary Peach delivered in April 2024 at the
Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction ceremony about sexism in the trades.

Sister in the Brotherhood
The Construction Record Podcast (Posted March 8, 2023)
Listen to this conversation between Hilary Peach and host Evan Saunders about her
decades as a travelling welder and her experiences as a woman in the trades

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