Our Nominees for the 2019 Journey Prize: Finding the Best of Canada's New Writers
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. —Directly quoted from the Writers' Trust website.
We are thrilled that the fine folks at The Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart have once again invited Blank Spaces to put forth three emerging writers we were privileged enough to feature in 2019.
Nominees must be Canadian and new on the publishing scene, and their submitted piece must have been published for the first time in a literary magazine. The winner will receive $10,000 with two finalist prizes of $1,000 each. The nominating magazine will also receive a $2,000 prize if their submission wins.
We are very pleased to be nominating three writers from our 2018 library!
Simon Broder for Moments
Sarah Gardiner for His Farm
Jordan Ryder for Cold
Congratulations to our nominees! Decisions are in the hands of the Journey Prize team. Good luck to everyone!
Simon Broder is a Toronto-based-writer who previously studied creative writing at the University of Victoria under such Canadian stalwarts as Steven Price and Bill Gaston. When not writing gritty, angsty fiction he tends to ramble on for far too long about sports and entertainment or generate popcorn online listicles for The Richest. His nonfiction has appeared at Pitchers and Poets, The Martlet, and on personal blogs. At last look, he was seeking a publisher for a nonfiction book about modelling, which is discussed in more detail at www.swtmw.blogspot.ca. Moments was his first fiction publication.
Sarah Gardiner lives with her husband and two small children in Calgary, Alberta. Being a busy stay-at-home mom, she tries to use nap time as her creative opportunity to write, read, crochet, and cook. Writing has become a new found love that allows her to escape and explore through new plots and characters. Her curiosity with people, possibilities, and forever asking ‘what if?’ seems to grow as her creative side continues to be challenged.
Jordan Ryder is from Toronto, Ontario. She’s just spent a year in Ireland where she drank loads of Guinness and studied for her Master’s degree in Literature and Publishing. Jordan received her MA with First Class Honours from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and she also holds a BA in Creative Writing from Dalhousie University, in Halifax. Currently, Jordan is working for the Brink Literacy Project and trying to figure out how to be a professional. She writes whenever she can and is adamant that a manuscript is on its way.
*Interesting note: Two of our nominees are winners of our quarterly write prompt contest! Consider entering - you never know where it might take you!
