The Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize recognizes the year’s best short story by an emerging writer first published in a Canadian literary journal or anthology. The prize is supported by James A. Michener’s donation of his Canadian royalty earnings from his novel Journey. In association with the prize, McClelland & Stewart annually publishes The Journey Prize Stories anthology, a collection of the longlisted stories.The winner is announced at the Writers’ Trust Awards in Toronto.
About the Prize
2018 Winner
Shashi Bhat
Mute
Jury Citation
In Shashi Bhat’s “Mute,” rooms open into other rooms, and each one is furnished with an inventory of meticulous detail, right down to the roaches scuttling across the floor and the narrator who puts on heels to rise above them. It is a story about fear and loneliness, failed connections and existential questions, as well as a darkly funny take on academia, literary snobbery, and popular culture. This is a story where sentences sparkle, each one laying down the path toward a perfect and most unsettling conclusion.
Jury
Our 2019 jurors were announced on January 29. Together they will select the best Canadian short stories of the past year.
The Journey Prize Stories 30
From its first edition in 1989, this celebrated annual fiction anthology has consistently introduced readers to the next generation of great Canadian writers. With settings ranging from Thailand and war-torn Vietnam to a tiki bar in the Prairies, the thirteen stories in this collection represent the year's best short fiction by some of our most exciting emerging writers. Get your copy.
2018 Long List
Shashi Bhat for “Mute”
published in The Dalhousie Review
Greg Brown for “Bear” and “Love”
published in Pulp Literature
Alicia Elliott for “Tracks”
published in The New Quarterly
Liz Harmer for “Never Prosper”
published in The New Quarterly
Philip Huynh for “The Forbidden Purple City”
published in EVENT
Jason Jobin for “Before He Left”
published in The Malahat Review
Aviva Dale Martin for “Barcelona”
published in PRISM international
Rowan McCandless for “Castaways”
published in Prairie Fire
Sofia Mostaghimi for “Desperada”
published in This Magazine
Jess Taylor for “Two Sex Addicts Fall in Love”
published in This Magazine
Iryn Tushabe for “A Separation”
published in CVC Anthology Series
Carly Vandergriendt for “Resurfacing”
published in CVC Anthology Series
“I owe a lot to the Journey Prize. An agent, a book deal. A renewed faith in my work. All signs that seem to say I’m on the right track.”
— Yasuko Thanh
2009 Journey Prize winner