[3] A 2014 Freehand book, Karyn L. Freedman's One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery, was the winner of the $40,0000 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction in 2015.
It went on to become a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-fiction and is a 2019 Canada Reads contender, championed by Chuck Comeau.
[4][5] Writers published by Freehand include Marina Endicott, Susan Olding, Stuart Ross, Clea Roberts, Saleema Nawaz, Clem and Olivier Martini, Jeanette Lynes, Sarah Leavitt, Yasmin Ladha, Paul Hendrick, Joan Crate, Jesse Patrick Ferguson, Ian Williams, Elizabeth Philips, Lorna Crozier, Keith Maillard and Cary Fagan.
[6] In 2016 Freehand (under the leadership of JoAnn McCaig) became independent of Broadview, though the two organizations have continued to work together in certain areas following the change in ownership structure.
Melanie Little was Freehand's first managing editor; she was succeeded in that role first by Sarah Ivany and then by Kelsey Attard.