“This year, eighty-one different stories battled for our affections, ranging in content from a post-apocalyptic suburb coping with rumours of cannibalism, to a movie theatre in Mauritius where dreams of a better future flicker onscreen, to a mattress store where a long-lasting friendship threatens to come undone. For each of us, it was a chance to partake in a process that now stretches back twenty-five years, a sneak peak at authors who – in the future – will likely become favourites.” --Miranda Hill, Mark Medley, and Russell Wangersky (from their Introduction) Among the stories this year: Brimming with restless energy, Doretta Lau’s “How Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun?” is a sometimes provocative portrait of adolescent angst and rebellion set among a gang of “dragoons” growing up in Vancouver. It vividly brings to life a twenty-first-century culture clash and illuminates the struggles, and alienation, of Chinese youth – whether from Hong Kong or the Mainland – now living in “Lotus Land.” Doretta Lau’s story positively hums, the language a well-shaken cocktail of influences ranging from hip-hop and Asian cinema to Chinese history and “the slang of the West.” As vibrant and colourful as graffiti. Well-timed and yet still carefully fractured enough to be jarring, Eliza Robertson’s “My Sister Sang” is a marvel of unexpected directions and sharp edges. A deftly-told story of two eavesdroppers, one a linguist, the other, professionally tuned to acoustics, who listen – over and over – to every scrap of a tragedy. Even with the distance and detachment of its characters from the centre of its disaster, there is no easy peace, no mere scientific examination of cause and effect: this is writing as carefully crafted and fine as pastry, with thin, perfect layers where every line serves to strengthen the rest. Naben Ruthnum’s “Cinema Rex” is as rich and visual as the films at its centre, which play on the new movie screen in one neighbourhood of Mauritius in the 1950s. The author beautifully draws the connections between the changing community, inundated by Hollywood and after-school English lessons, and a season of vital shifts for three friends transitioning out of boyhood. Full of heady sensory details, Ruthnum’s deft observations of family and class interactions create an entire world of established histories and hierarchies, even though the reader is only privy to a sliver of these stories.

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.

With an introduction by the jury, and now featuring authors’ comments on the inspiration for their stories. This is the seventeenth edition of The Journey Prize Stories, Canada’s most popular annual fiction anthology. As well as receiving high praise every year, it is an important indicator of up-and-coming writers, presenting the most exciting new Canadian voices from coast to coast. Writers whose stories have appeared in the anthology — Yann Martel, André Alexis, David Bergen, Dennis Bock, Michael Crummey, Elizabeth Hay, Annabel Lyon, Lisa Moore, Eden Robinson, Timothy Taylor, Madeleine Thien, and M.G. Vassanji — have gone on to become finalists for or winners of some of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards. The stories included in the anthology are contenders for the $10,000 Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, which is made possible by James A. Michener’s generous donation of his Canadian royalty earnings from his novel Journey (M&S, 1988). The winner will be announced in the spring of 2006 as part of The Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Great Literary Awards event.

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 collection consistently does what the oeuvre does best: communicate intense emotion with force, give life to characters that struggle with their circumstances, illuminate the universal through the specific and the particular, and turn the commonplace into art.” Globe and Mail “[The anthology] amuses, astonishes, and enlightens; it is a delicious cacophony of voices and engaging stories . . .”Books in Canada The Journey Prize Stories is Canada’s most celebrated annual fiction anthology, presenting the best stories published each year by some of our most exciting up-and-coming writers. Among the stories this year: Desperate to reinvent himself, a disgraced diplomat on what will be the last assignment of his career goes in search of a woman from his past in Eastern Croatia. As a teacher begins to unravel in the aftermath of a school shooting, a series of surprising encounters with her former students reveals their differing degrees of resiliency. Bench presses and Wonder Woman comics create an unexpected intimacy between a teenager and her Ukrainian-language tutor, a former female champion weightlifter. After his junkie uncle moves into the basement to hide out from his dealer and get clean, a lonely boy’s longing for a male role model threatens to lead him astray. When a famous author finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal while on his book tour, he discovers the only person he has left to turn to is his handler, a woman with secrets of her own. Cultural tradition gives way to modern-day Japanese efficiency when a long-married couple attend a meeting of Concerned Parents of Unmarried Offspring, a speed dating event for parents in search of spouses for their adult children. The stories included in the anthology are contenders for the $10,000 Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. The winner will be announced in fall 2010.

A landmark special edition celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Journey Prize. Since its inception in 1989, the Journey Prize anthology has been widely celebrated for introducing readers to a who’s-who of up-and-coming Canadian literary voices, many of whom have gone on to become some of our most beloved writers. This special thirty-fifth-anniversary edition of Canada’s most prestigious annual fiction anthology gathers thirty-one timeless stories from throughout the prize’s history—some contemporary classics, some hidden gems—as chosen by two modern masters of the short story, Souvankham Thammavongsa and Alexander MacLeod, who are themselves previous Journey Prize contributors. After her Olympic ski-jumper husband lifts off but never comes down, a woman counters the world’s doubts with her own leap of faith. A daughter reflects on the simple ritual she shared with her father—and the moment when her unconditional love for him was called into question. An Indigenous Elder recounts an alternative creation story of Ah-damn and Evening to a trio of anthropologists. After months of trying to sell the worthless sports card collection his no-good father left behind, a boy is unprepared for a bizarre encounter with the “pile of human being” who wants to buy a card to complete his collection. A mother and child contend with the strange after-effects of an unusual multi-course meal. Infighting, blatant favouritism, and judging irregularities mar a living-room beauty pageant as four sisters vie for the title of Miss Canada. A carpet collector reimagines his family’s fractured history by weaving new tapestries to tell their stories. The last words of a fifty-year-old pet parakeet leads to the first in a series of unfortunate events. Marvellously eclectic, constantly surprising, and full of vibrant life, these glittering stories speak to the power of the short story and the extraordinary impact the Journey Prize continues to make on Canadian literature. Journey is a gift for readers and writers alike. Featuring an introduction by the editors, and stories by André Alexis, Michael Christie, Alicia Elliott, Jessica Grant, Kevin Hardcastle, Angélique Lalonde, Annabel Lyon, Thomas King, Téa Mutonji, Saleema Nawaz, Heather O'Neill, Eden Robinson, Naben Ruthnum, and Madeleine Thien, among others.