Journey Prize

The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short stories published by an emerging writer in a Canadian literary magazine. The award was endowed by James A. Michener, who donated the Canadian royalty earnings from his 1988 novel Journey.[1]

From the award's inception until 2023, a single story was named the winner and received CA$10,000, making it the largest monetary award given in Canada to an up-and-coming writer for a short story or excerpt from a fiction work-in-progress. Since 2023, the award no longer select a single prize winners, and instead all of the 10 writers whose stories are selected for inclusion in the anthology are considered equal winners of the award and receive $1,000 each in prize money.

The prize's winner in 2000, Timothy Taylor, was the first writer ever to have three stories nominated for the award in the same year.[2]

The Journey Prize also publishes an annual anthology of the year's longlisted short stories. Two writers, Andrew MacDonald and David Bergen, have both had a record four total stories selected for inclusion in the annual anthology.

In 2020, the Journey Prize committee announced that the upcoming award would be a special edition devoted exclusively to Black Canadian writers, considering stories published in multiple years.[3] Although the initial report was that the special Black Canadian edition of the award would be presented in 2021 for stories published in 2019, 2020 and 2021,[3] the organizers instead paused the award for 2021 and 2022, and presented a special Black Canadian award in early 2023 to honour works published since 2020.[4]

In 2024, the 25th anniversary of the awards was marked with a special retrospective anthology, edited by Alexander MacLeod and Souvankham Thammavongsa, compiling selected winning and nominated stories from throughout the history of the awards.

Winners and nominees

1980s

Year Author Title Ref
1989 Holley Rubinsky "Rapid Transits" [5]

1990s

Year Author Title Ref
1990 Cynthia Flood "My Father Took a Cake to France" [6]
1991 Yann Martel "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" [7]
Diana Hartog "Theories of Grief" [8]
Diane Keating "The Salem Letters" [8]
1992 Rozena Maart "No Rosa, No District Six" [9]
Steven Heighton "How Beautiful Upon the Mountains" [10]
Diane Juttner Perreault "Bella's Story" [10]
1993 Gayla Reid "Sister Doyle's Men" [11]
Marina Endicott "With the Band" [12]
Carol Windley "The Etruscans" [12]
1994 Melissa Hardy "Long Man the River" [13]
Anne Carson "Water Margins" [14]
Robert Mullen "Anomie" [14]
1995 Kathryn Woodward "Of Marranos and Gilded Angels" [15]
Gabriella Goliger "Song of Ascent" [16]
Elizabeth Hay "Hand Games" [16]
1996 Elyse Gasco "Can You Wave Bye Bye, Baby?" [17]
Danuta Gleed "Bones" [17]
Rick Maddocks "Lessons from the Sputnik Diner" [17]
1997 Gabriella Goliger "Maladies of the Inner Ear" [18]
Anne Simpson "Dreaming Snow" [18]
Mark Anthony Jarman "Speedboat" [18]
1998 John Brooke "The Finer Points of Apples" [19]
Ian Colford "The Reason for the Dream" [20]
Stephen Guppy "Downwind" [20]
1999 Alissa York "The Back of the Bear’s Mouth" [21]

2000s

Year Author Title Ref.
2000 Timothy Taylor "Doves of Townsend" [2]
2001 Kevin Armstrong "The Cane Field" [22]
Vivette J. Kady "Anything That Wiggles" [23]
Heather O'Neill "Little Suitcase" [23]
2002 Jocelyn Brown "Miss Canada" [24]
Geoffrey Brown "Listen" [25]
Neil Smith "Green Fluorescent Protein" [25]
2003 Jessica Grant "My Husband’s Jump" [26]
Dawn Rae Downton "Hansel and Gretel" [27]
Charlotte Gill "Hush" [27]
2004 Devin Krukoff "The Last Spark" [28]
Kenneth Bonert "Packers and Movers" [29]
Elaine McCluskey "The Watermelon Social" [29]
2005 Matt Shaw "Matchbook for a Mother's Hair" [30]
Krista Bridge "A Matter of Firsts" [31]
Barbara Romanik "Seven Ways to Chandigarh" [31]
2006 Heather Birrell "BriannaSusannaAlana" [32]
Lee Henderson "Conjugation" [33]
Martin West "Cretacea" [33]
2007 Craig Boyko "Ozy" [34]
Krista Foss "Swimming in Zanzibar" [35]
Rebecca Rosenblum "Chilly Girl" [35]
2008 Saleema Nawaz "My Three Girls" [36]
Dana Mills "Steaming for Godthab" [37]
Clea Young "Chaperone" [37]
2009 Yasuko Thanh "Floating Like the Dead" [38]
Daniel Griffin "The Last Great Works of Alvin Cale" [39]
Dave Margoshes "The Wisdom of Solomon" [39]

2010s

Year Author Title Ref.
2010 Devon Code "Uncle Oscar" [40]
Krista Foss "The Longitude of Okay" [41]
Lynne Kutsukake "Mating" [41]
2011 Miranda Hill "Petitions to Saint Chronic" [42]
Seyward Goodhand "The Fur Trader's Daughter" [43]
Ross Klatte "First-Calf Heifer" [43]
2012 Alex Pugsley "Crisis on Earth-X" [44]
Kevin Hardcastle "To Have to Wait" [45]
Andrew Hood "Manning" [45]
2013 Naben Ruthnum "Cinema Rex" [46]
Doretta Lau "How Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun?" [47]
Eliza Robertson "My Sister Sang" [47]
2014 Tyler Keevil "Sealskin" [48]
Lori McNulty "Monsoon Season" [48]
Clea Young "Juvenile" [48]
2015 Deirdre Dore "The Wise Baby" [49]
Emily Bossé "Last Animal Standing on Gentleman’s Farm" [50]
Anna Ling Kaye "Red Egg and Ginger" [50]
2016 Colette Langlois "The Emigrants" [51]
Charlie Fiset "If I Ever See the Sun" [52]
J. R. McConvey "How the Grizzly Came to Hang in the Royal Oak Hotel" [52]
2017 Sharon Bala "Butter Tea at Starbucks" [53]
Darlene Naponse "She Is Water" [53]
2018 Shashi Bhat "Mute" [54]
Greg Brown "Love" [55]
Liz Harmer "Never Prosper" [55]
2019 Angélique Lalonde "Pooka" [56]
Kai Conradi "Every True Artist" [57]
Samantha Jude Macpherson "The Fish and the Dragons" [57]

2020s

Year Author Title Ref.
2020 Jessica Johns "Bad Cree" [58]
Lisa Foad "Hunting" [59]
David Huebert "Chemical Valley"
2021 No award presented
2022 No award presented
2023 Christina Cooke [60]
A. Z. Farah
Zilla Jones
Sarah Kabamba
Terese Mason Pierre
Téa Mutonji
Lue Palmer
Jasmine Sealy
Dianah Smith
Iryn Tushabe

References

  1. ^ "Author donates literary prize". Calgary Herald, December 18, 1988.
  2. ^ a b "The patter of little stories". Vancouver Sun, December 2, 2000.
  3. ^ a b "2021 Journey Prize will focus on emerging Black Canadian writers" Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine. CBC Books, June 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Dana Gee, "Prestigious short story anthology focuses on emerging Canadian Black writers". Vancouver Sun, February 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "Short story wins $10,000 for B.C. writer". Vancouver Sun, June 15, 1989.
  6. ^ "Vancouver writer wins $10,000 Canadian fiction prize". The Globe and Mail, May 25, 1990.
  7. ^ "Authors collect prizes of close to $80,000". Toronto Star, October 28, 1991.
  8. ^ a b "Future winners". Kingston Whig-Standard, August 31, 1991.
  9. ^ "Rebellious, defiant, resistant; Controversial feminist writer Rozena Maart wins $10,000 literary prize for short story". Ottawa Citizen, October 15, 1992.
  10. ^ a b "McClelland and Stewart names shortlist for '92 Journey Prize". Montreal Gazette, September 12, 1992.
  11. ^ "Burnaby author honored". Vancouver Sun, October 14, 1993.
  12. ^ a b "Authors Shortlisted for Journey Prize". The Globe and Mail, September 22, 1993.
  13. ^ "$50,000 writing prize goes to first Canadian". The Globe and Mail, October 13, 1994.
  14. ^ a b "Journey Prize short list missing four names". Ottawa Citizen, September 18, 1994.
  15. ^ "Fetherling, Woodward honoured at festival". The Globe and Mail, October 12, 1995.
  16. ^ a b "2 Ottawa writers among finalists for Journey prize". Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 1995.
  17. ^ a b c "Elyse Gasco wins Journey Prize with grim tale about child abuse". Ottawa Citizen, October 27, 1996.
  18. ^ a b c "Journey Prize ends in a tie". Edmonton Journal, October 24, 1997.
  19. ^ "Montreal writer picks up $10,000 prize for short story". Vancouver Sun, October 23, 1998.
  20. ^ a b "Giller Prize nominees announced". Vancouver Sun, October 6, 1998.
  21. ^ Andrew Tolson, "Literary award means time to do what she loves". National Post, October 21, 1999.
  22. ^ "Writers' Trust awards $75,000 in prizes". St. Catharines Standard, March 6, 2002.
  23. ^ a b "Shields, Todd, Blaise nominated for literary awards". Moose Jaw Times-Herald, February 17, 2002.
  24. ^ "Literary award winners named". Nanaimo Daily News, March 7, 2003.
  25. ^ a b "Finalists named for Writers' Trust Awards". The Globe and Mail, February 12, 2003.
  26. ^ Rebecca Caldwell, "Writers' Trust announces winners". The Globe and Mail, March 4, 2004.
  27. ^ a b "Authors nominated for Great Literary Awards". The Telegram, February 8, 2004.
  28. ^ Anne-Marie Tobin, "Munro, Engel, Newman honoured". The Telegram, March 10, 2005.
  29. ^ a b "Munro, Newman among Writers Trust nominees". Sherbrooke Record, February 4, 2005.
  30. ^ "Canadian authors honoured in Toronto". Prince George Citizen, March 3, 2006.
  31. ^ a b Pat Donnelly, "Writers' Trust helps Canadian literature thrive". Montreal Gazette, February 18, 2006.
  32. ^ "N.L. writer's 'Inside' wins fiction prize". Telegraph-Journal, March 8, 2007.
  33. ^ a b "Rudy Wiebe tapped for Writer's Trust Awards: Memoir also up for rich Charles Taylor Prize". Edmonton Journal, February 7, 2007.
  34. ^ "Hill, Porter major winners". Victoria Times-Colonist, April 2, 2008.
  35. ^ a b James Adams, "Vassanji, Ashenburg up for Trust honours". The Globe and Mail, February 27, 2008.
  36. ^ Morley Walker, "Toews takes home rich prize for The Flying Troutmans". Winnipeg Free Press, November 18, 2008.
  37. ^ a b Victoria Ahearn, "Miriam Toews, Rawi Hage among finalists for Writers' Trust book prizes". Canadian Press, October 1, 2008.
  38. ^ Tom Hawthorn, "A writer's all too real tale puts her in spotlight". The Globe and Mail, December 7, 2009.
  39. ^ a b Victoria Ahearn, "Alice Munro, Douglas Coupland among contenders for Writers Trust Awards". Canadian Press, September 20, 2009.
  40. ^ Mark Medley, "A Room with a prize". National Post, November 3, 2010.
  41. ^ a b Richard Helm, "Siblings make short list for Canadian literary prize". Edmonton Journal, September 30, 2010.
  42. ^ "Hamilton's Miranda Hill wins Journey Prize". Hamilton Spectator, November 3, 2011.
  43. ^ a b Mark Medley, "First & second time's the charm for authors; few veterans in writers' trust fiction nominees". National Post, September 29, 2011.
  44. ^ "Nanaimo writer wins Rogers fiction prize". Victoria Times-Colonist, November 8, 2012.
  45. ^ a b "Writers' finalists named". Toronto Star, September 20, 2012.
  46. ^ Simon Houpt, "Colin McAdam wins Writers' Trust award". The Globe and Mail, November 21, 2013.
  47. ^ a b Mark Medley, "Writers' Trust gives nod to Lisa Moore, Lynn Coady". National Post, October 1, 2013.
  48. ^ a b c "Miriam Toews wins $25,000 Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize" Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, November 4, 2014.
  49. ^ "André Alexis wins Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize" Archived 2023-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, November 3, 2015.
  50. ^ a b "Globe columnist among Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize nominees" Archived 2023-04-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, September 29, 2015.
  51. ^ "Eden Robinson, Gregory Scofield, Yasuko Thanh among 2016 Writers' Trust Prize winners" Archived 2016-11-08 at the Wayback Machine. CBC Books, November 2. 2016.
  52. ^ a b "Fiset, Langlois, McConvey Journey Prize finalists". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, September 16, 2016.
  53. ^ a b "David Chariandy, Billie Livingston, and Diane Schoemperlen among the winners at the 2017 Writers’ Trust awards" Archived 2019-04-22 at the Wayback Machine. Quill & Quire, November 14, 2017.
  54. ^ "Books inspired by the authors’ parents win the top Writers’ Trust Awards" Archived 2022-10-13 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, November 7, 2018.
  55. ^ a b "The Writers’ Trust of Canada announces Journey Prize finalists" Archived 2019-04-25 at the Wayback Machine. Quill & Quire, September 12, 2018.
  56. ^ Deborah Dundas, "Andre Alexis, Jenny Heijun Wills are big winners at Writers’ Trust Awards" Archived 2019-11-06 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, November 5, 2019.
  57. ^ a b "Local writer up for $10,000 prize" Archived 2019-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. Kelowna Daily Courier, September 17, 2019.
  58. ^ "4 emerging Canadian writers receive $10K prizes from Writers' Trust of Canada" Archived 2023-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. CBC Books, October 21, 2020.
  59. ^ Ryan Porter, "Short fiction finalists announced for the 2020 Journey Prize" Archived 2023-04-10 at the Wayback Machine. Quill & Quire, August 26, 2020.
  60. ^ "Emerging black writers win the Journey Prize". Caribbean Camera, February 1, 2023.