Montreal, April 24, 2019 – CBC BOOKS, CBC’s online home for literary content, together with its partners the Canada Council for the Arts and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, today announced the winner of the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize.
Krzysztof Pelc of Montreal, Quebec has been awarded the grand prize for Green Velvet. His story was selected from more than 3000 works received from across the country. Visit CBCBooks.ca to read Green Velvet.
As the grand-prize winner, Pelc will receive $6000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and his story will be published on CBCBooks.ca. He will also receive a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
The jury was composed of writers Esi Edugyan, Iain Reid and Lisa Moore, who said:
“Told in clear, confident prose, Green Velvet is an elegant, beautifully-shaped story, lit with a wry humour that tilts unpredictably to melancholy. It’s full of whimsy and insight. The Chesterfield around which the plot twists — up the staircase, by rigid corners, tight spots and thresholds — into this family’s new life is, by turns, a symbol of hope and one of doubt that eats away from the inside. The voice perfectly captures the desire for belonging, and all the ways such a desire can go unexpectedly wrong.”
Krzysztof Pelc is a professor of political science at McGill University. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he grew up in Quebec and has lived in Montreal since 2010. He is the author of Making and Bending International Rules, a nonfiction book about the ways international law deals with unexpected events and he is completing a novel titled The Sexual Lives of Plants, about lust, language and authoritarianism.
CBC Books also announced Jacques Lemaire as the winner of the French grand prize this morning for Le ravin. More information can be found at ICI.Radio-canada.ca/icionlit under the “Prix de la nouvelle” tab.
The four runners-up for the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize, each receiving $1000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, are Nada Alic (Toronto, Ont) for The Intruder, David Dupont (Toronto, Ont) for For Pari, Menaka Raman-Wilms (Ottawa, Ont.) for Black Coffee, and Meg Todd of Vancouver, B.C. for Green is the Colour of Calm.
For more information on the CBC Literary Prizes please visit CBCBooks.ca.
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About CBC Books
Home to Canada Reads, Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel, The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, Canada Writes and the CBC Literary Prizes, CBC Books connects Canadians with books, encouraging a shared love of reading and writing. For book news, writing challenges, reading lists, book recommendations and more, visit www.CBCbooks.ca.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. The Council champions and invests in artistic excellence through a broad range of grants, services, prizes and payments to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations. Its work ensures that excellent, vibrant and diverse art and literature engages Canadians, enriches their communities and reaches markets around the world. The Council also raises public awareness and appreciation of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities. It is responsible for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, which promotes the values and programs of UNESCO in Canada to contribute to a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable future. The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) Program sends yearly payments to creators whose works are in Canada’s public libraries. The Canada Council Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts.
About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to society through cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, world-class performances, and public outreach.
For further information, contact:
Sarah Goddard
Publicist, CBC
sarah.goddard@cbc.ca
416-205-2983
Diane Hargrave
Diane Hargrave Public Relations
dhprbks@interlog.com
416-467-9954
