The Journey Prize Stories 26

For more than twenty-five years, The Journey Prize Stories has been Canada’s most celebrated annual fiction anthology and a who’s who of up-and-coming writers. With settings ranging from Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music to a hospital ward in Thailand, from British Columbia’s Burrard Inlet to St. John’s Bowring Park, the stories in this collection represent the year’s best short fiction by some of our most exciting new writers. Among the stories this year: A woman’s quest to trend on social media blinds her to her inability to connect with her own adult daughter. The delicate equilibrium maintained by a newly pregnant expat living in Israel is shattered when a missile lands in her backyard. An unusual guide to caring for an exotic pet highlights the many opportunities owners will have to learn valuable life lessons – beginning with the pet’s death. The tender relationship between two musical prodigies is no match for the machinations of the adult world. After a woman returns to her parents’ house to recuperate from a life-changing surgery, she discovers how difficult it is for others to accept who she has become. A terrible act of cruelty forces the tensions between two workers at a fish processing plant to spill out into the surrounding waters. When a former couple has a chance encounter on a B.C. ferry, old grievances and desires alike resurface with surprising results.

For more than twenty-five years, The Journey Prize Stories has been Canada’s most celebrated annual fiction anthology and a who’s who of up-and-coming writers. With settings ranging from Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music to a hospital ward in Thailand, from British Columbia’s Burrard Inlet to St. John’s Bowring Park, the stories in this collection represent the year’s best short fiction by some of our most exciting new writers. Among the stories this year: A woman’s quest to trend on social media blinds her to her inability to connect with her own adult daughter. The delicate equilibrium maintained by a newly pregnant expat living in Israel is shattered when a missile lands in her backyard. An unusual guide to caring for an exotic pet highlights the many opportunities owners will have to learn valuable life lessons – beginning with the pet’s death. The tender relationship between two musical prodigies is no match for the machinations of the adult world. After a woman returns to her parents’ house to recuperate from a life-changing surgery, she discovers how difficult it is for others to accept who she has become. A terrible act of cruelty forces the tensions between two workers at a fish processing plant to spill out into the surrounding waters. When a former couple has a chance encounter on a B.C. ferry, old grievances and desires alike resurface with surprising results.

Like The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and the Best American Short Stories series, The Journey Prize Stories is one of the most celebrated annual literary anthologies in North America. For almost 30 years, the anthology has consistently introduced readers to the next generation of great Canadian authors, a tradition that proudly continues with this latest edition. With settings ranging from wartime China to an island off the coast of British Columbia, the ten stories in this collection represent the year's best short fiction by some of our most exciting emerging voices. A young boy who believes he is being stalked by an unstoppable, malevolent entity discovers that he may not be the only one. In a sweeping story set against the fall of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War, a pregnant woman waits anxiously for her doctor husband to leave the city before it's too late. A river that runs through a First Nations community is the source of sustenance, escape, and tragedy for a girl and her family. The haunting footage of the politically motivated self-immolation has unexpected reverberations for a Tibetan-Canadian woman dealing with multiple conflicts in her own life. A man who works a back-breaking job at an industrial mat cleaning service is pushed to his limit. When her mother has to return to Kinshasa to bury a family member, a girl gradually learns of the intricacy and depth of grief, in an evocative piece that illuminates the cultural gaps common within immigrant families, and the power of food and stories to bridge them. The stories included in the anthology are contenders for the $10,000 Journey Prize, which is made possible by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener's donation of Canadian royalties from his novel Journey, which McClelland & Stewart published in 1988. The 2017 winner will be announced by the Writers' Trust of Canada in November 2017.

For more than three decades, The Journey Prize Stories has been Canada's most celebrated annual fiction anthology and a who's-who of up-and-coming writers. With settings ranging from a wildlife rescue centre to a Living Body exhibit, the thirteen stories in this collection represent the year's best short fiction by some of our most exciting emerging literary talents. On Sunday afternoons, a coven of teenagers gathers at The Lois Lanes bowling alley to discuss their shared obsession with the second hottest boy in school. A patient joins her therapist and her therapist's granddaughter for an unconventional session--a field trip to confront the reviled Feed Machine. Troubled by dreams and trailed by crows, a woman far from home struggles to confront an old guilt. As a half-remembered Beach Boys song plays in the background, a daughter recalls the man her father used to be through a tender inventory of their time together. In a community plagued by petrochemical-induced diseases and environmental ruin, a man spends his nights caring for his dying partner and his days navigating a dangerous workplace. An android watches her creators' relationship break down before her eyes. A gang of girls roams the streets of a ravaged city, hunting their would-be predators. In her journey to become a woman and a healer, a Cree girl enters the woods alone to learn the stories and medicines of plants, only to be transformed by an unexpected connection. The stories included in this volume are contenders for the $10,000 Writers' Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize.

For more than thirty years, this celebrated anthology has introduced readers to the next generation of great Canadian writers. With settings ranging from a Saskatchewan wheat field marked by crop circles to a dystopian metropolis where people are under constant surveillance, the twelve stories in this collection represent the year's best short fiction by some of our most exciting emerging voices. An aspiring artist looking for inspiration in the "aliveness of the desert" gets less--and more--than she bargained for when she signs up for a residency at a roadside motel. After years of toiling to pay off a debt that has devastated his family, a young Chinese fisherman makes a magical catch that will change the course of his life. As a populist candidate stands poised to triumph at a political convention, his campaign strategist and childhood best friend reflects on the dark legacy of their relationship. A brutal assault on a Toronto taxi driver leads his friend on a desperate search for answers. When troubling stories of women's encounters with aliens start to dominate the news cycle, a reporter reluctantly returns to her hometown to cover the phenomenon. A carpet collector reimagines his family's fractured history by weaving new tapestries to tell their stories. Unsure of whether his client is really dying, an end-of-life gift professional must assess the man's extravagant last wish. A Ktunaxa grandmother tells a parable of why you shouldn't speak to Kupi (owl) at night.

Like The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and the Best American Short Stories series, The Journey Prize Stories is one of the most celebrated annual literary anthologies in North America. For almost 30 years, the anthology has consistently introduced readers to the next generation of great Canadian authors, a tradition that proudly continues with this latest edition. With settings ranging from wartime China to an island off the coast of British Columbia, the ten stories in this collection represent the year's best short fiction by some of our most exciting emerging voices. A young boy who believes he is being stalked by an unstoppable, malevolent entity discovers that he may not be the only one. In a sweeping story set against the fall of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War, a pregnant woman waits anxiously for her doctor husband to leave the city before it's too late. A river that runs through a First Nations community is the source of sustenance, escape, and tragedy for a girl and her family. The haunting footage of the politically motivated self-immolation has unexpected reverberations for a Tibetan-Canadian woman dealing with multiple conflicts in her own life. A man who works a back-breaking job at an industrial mat cleaning service is pushed to his limit. When her mother has to return to Kinshasa to bury a family member, a girl gradually learns of the intricacy and depth of grief, in an evocative piece that illuminates the cultural gaps common within immigrant families, and the power of food and stories to bridge them. The stories included in the anthology are contenders for the $10,000 Journey Prize, which is made possible by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener's donation of Canadian royalties from his novel Journey, which McClelland & Stewart published in 1988. The 2017 winner will be announced by the Writers' Trust of Canada in November 2017.

The 30th edition of the celebrated annual fiction collection showcasing the best stories by the best new writers in Canada, all contenders for the prestigious $10,000 Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize.