5 writers make 2019 CBC Short Story Prize shortlist

Five writers have made the 2019CBC Short Story Prize shortlist.

The finalists are:

• The Intruder by Nada Alic (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• For Pari by David Dupont (Toronto, Ont.)
• Green Velvet by Krzysztof Pelc (Montreal, Que.)
• Black Coffee by Menaka Raman-Wilms (Ottawa, Ont.)
• Green is the Colour of Calm by Meg Todd (Vancouver, B.C.)

Each of thefinalists will receive$1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and their stories have been published byCBC Books. You can read their stories by clicking the links above.

The winner will be announced on April 24, 2019. The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativityand has had their work published byCBC Books.

The shortlistwasselected by the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize jury, which was comprised ofEsiEdugyan, Iain Reid and Lisa Moore. The jury will also select the winner.

The longlist was compiled by a team of readers made up of writers and editors from across Canada.There were more than 3,000 English-language submissions.

Get to know the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize finalists below.

The Intruder by Nada Alic

About Nada:Nada Alic lives in Los Angeles by way of Toronto and writes about art, design and maintaining a creative practice. She is currently working on a collection of short fiction.

Why she wrote The Intruder: "Writing The Intruder was a way of reclaiming controlby exploring the boundaries between fear and fantasy, the vulnerability of living in a woman's body and what happens in the confluence of people's loneliness, narcissism and fear in a place like Los Angeles."

• Read The Intruder here

For Pari by David Dupont

About David:David Dupont spent more than 20 years working for various media as a director, writer and producer. He is currently completing a degree in creative writing at York University.

Why he wroteFor Pari: "An Iranianfriend once told me about an uncle who was never recovered after his incarceration."

• Read For Parihere

Green Velvet by Krzysztof Pelc

AboutKrzysztof: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 bookabout the ways international law deals with unexpected eventsand he is completing a noveltitled The Sexual Lives of Plants, about lust, language and authoritarianism.

Why he wrote Green Velvet:"I keep a file of things seen or overheard that have struck me. And every so often, I'll dip into that file to look for something to use as a kernel for writing. In this case, I'd heard a friend describe this uncanny vision from his childhood, which became the final scene in the story. I worked backwards from that to construct the rest of it, pulling from various other things that were trotting in my mind."

• Read Green Velvet here

Black Coffee by Menaka Raman-Wilms

AboutMenaka:Menaka Raman-Wilms has her Masterof Arts in English and creative writing from the University of Toronto and is currently completing her master's degreeinJournalism at Carleton University.

Why she wroteBlack Coffee:"Seeing how deeply women can be affected by the experiences of other women."

• Read Black Coffee here

Green is the Colour of Calm by Meg Todd

About Meg:Meg Todd's work has been published in Prairie Fire, Riddle Fence, Grain, EVENT, The Humber Literary Review, The Windsor Review and elsewhere. She studied Eastern Religious Studies at the University of Calgary and creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

Why she wrote Green is the Colour of Calm:"The awareness of genetic bonds is heightened during the teenage years and I wanted to explore the dilemma these familial relationships present when abuse and dysfunction are present."

• Read Green is the Colour of Calm here

To see the finalists for the French competition, go to Lesprix de la cration.

Leah Mol won the 2018 CBC Short Story Prize for Lipstick Day.

The CBC Literary Prizes have been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners include Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields, Michael Winter and Frances Itani.

• Check out the past winners of the CBC Literary Prizes