2024 CBC SHORT STORY PRIZE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
Five finalists have been chosen from more than 1900 entries from across the country
The Grand Prize winner, announced April 25, will receive a $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
April 18, 2024 – 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, have announced the finalists for the 2024 CBC Short Story Prize.
The finalists are:
Old Bones by Kate Gunn (Vancouver)
Lamentations by Miriam Ho Nga Wai (Toronto)
How to Make a Friend by Zilla Jones (Winnipeg)
The Baby by Kailash Srinivasan (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Permission to Pause by Carley Thorne (Toronto)
The entries were selected from more than 1,900 submissions received from across Canada. The public can read the shortlisted texts on cbcbooks.ca. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Thursday, April 25.
The 2024 CBC Short Story Prize jurors are Suzette Mayr, Kevin Chong and Ashley Audrain.
Suzette Mayr is the author of the novels The Sleeping Car Porter, Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall, Monoceros, Moon Honey, The Widows and Venous Hum. She won the 2022 Giller Prize for The Sleeping Car Porter. Mayr lives in Calgary.
Kevin Chong is a Vancouver-based writer and associate professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. His books include the nonfiction book Northern Dancer and fiction titles like The Plague and Beauty Plus Pity. He was longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction Prize twice. In 2015 for Empty Houses and in 2020 for White Space. Chong's latest book, The Double Life of Benson Yu, was a finalist for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Ashley Audrain is the Toronto-based former publicity director of Penguin Canada. Her debut novel The Push was a New York Times bestseller and won the Best Crime First Novel at the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards. She is also the author of the thriller The Whispers.
The Grand Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and will be published on the CBC Books website. The four other finalists will each receive $1000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and will be published on CBC Books.
Visit cbcbooks.ca for the complete CBC Short story Prize longlist or for more information on the CBC Literary Prizes.
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About CBC Books
Home to Canada Reads, Writers & Company, The Next Chapter, 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 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, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, 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’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments contribute to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and support its presence across Canada and abroad. The Council’s investments foster greater engagement in the arts among Canadians and international audiences.
The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) program makes annual payments to creators whose works are held in Canadian public libraries.
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 on Treaty 7 territory 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:
Frances Bedford, CBC PR
416-205-7673
