The Journey Prize Stories 25 Read online

  “You have a guinea pig?”

  “I left my phone.”

  “Okay.”

  “When I was twelve.” She folded her arms over her ribs. “Her name was Rosa.”

  She helped me fold cranes. We plugged in her iPhone. We listened to the soundtrack from Evita on repeat. Don’t cry for me, Argentina. By midnight, we needed to borrow another recycling box from the lab across the hall. I noticed we both folded A3 so that Joy Vernon’s face pointed outward, from the tail of the crane, or the wings.

  I think I can fit the cranes into three oversized boxes from UPS. I’ll mail the Polaroid of my sister with the first parcel. In the photo, she hovers a blue gingham crane above her head. She balances the wings between her fingers like she will demonstrate flight. Like she knows the crane will stay suspended when she drops her hands.

  ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

  Steven Benstead is the author of two novels. His short fiction has appeared in Grain, Prairie Fire, Pierian Spring, Secrets from the Orange Couch, and Manitoba Myriad. He wrote the text for Winnipeg: City at the Forks, and has recently completed a new novel, tentatively titled Soldier, Soldier. He has worked in Winnipeg as a bookseller since 1983.

  Jay Brown is a writer and librarian living and working in Toronto. His short fiction has appeared in The Vancouver Review, Grain, Prairie Fire, and the anthology Darwin’s Bastards. “The Egyptians” is his second work to appear in The Journey Prize Stories. He is currently at work on a novel.

  Andrew Forbes has published music and film criticism both online and in print, and his fiction has appeared in The Feathertale Review, Found Press Quarterly, Scrivener Creative Review, The New Quarterly, and PRISM international. He is a co-founder and senior editor of the sportswriting website The Barnstormer (thebarnstormer.com), and he has recently completed his first collection of short fiction. He lives in Peterborough, Ontario, with his wife and three children.

  Philip Huynh’s stories have appeared in The Malahat Review, Prairie Fire, and The New Quarterly. “Gulliver’s Wife” was the runner-up for The New Quarterly’s 2012 Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award. He is working on a novel, along with more short fiction. He lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with his wife and twin toddler daughters.

  Originally from Halifax, Amy Jones is a graduate of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at UBC. Her short fiction has appeared in several Canadian publications, and she was the winner of the 2006 CBC Literary Award for Short Story in English. Her first short fiction collection, What Boys Like (Biblioasis, 2009) was the winner of the 2009 Metcalf-Rooke Award, and was short-listed for the 2010 ReLit Award. Amy currently lives in Thunder Bay, where she is working on a novel.

  Marnie Lamb earned a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Windsor before living abroad for two years. Her short stories have appeared in several literary journals, including filling Station, The Nashwaak Review, blueprint, Room, and The New Quarterly. Currently, she is working on a collection of Japan-themed short stories, which includes “Mrs. Fujimoto’s Wednesday Afternoons,” and a young adult novel. Now a Toronto resident, she runs Ewe Editorial Services, which provides copy editing, indexing, and permissions research services.

  Doretta Lau is a journalist who covers arts and culture for Artforum, South China Morning Post, The Wall Street Journal Asia, and Bazaar Art Hong Kong. She completed an MFA in Writing at Columbia University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in EVENT, Grain, Prairie Fire, PRISM international, Ricepaper, subTerrain, and Zen Monster. She divides her time between Vancouver and Hong Kong, where she is at work on a novel and a screenplay. In 2014, her short story collection will be published by Nightwood Editions.

  Laura Legge is equal parts the Socratic paradox “I know that I know nothing” and the Shaquille O’Neal rap song “(I Know I Got) Skillz.” She’s honoured you read her story, and hopes to meet you sometime so you can tell her some of yours.

  Natalie Morrill is a multi-genre writer from Ontario, and is finishing an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in Ultraviolet Magazine, filling Station, and the anthology Lake Effect 4 (Artful Codger Press, 2009); she also has new poetry forthcoming in CAROUSEL. Her work has been recognized by the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (Silver, 2013 Showcase Award for Fiction). She’s at work on a novel set in post-war Austria: so far, this involves at least one magic fish.

  Zoey Leigh Peterson’s fiction has appeared in various publications, including The Malahat Review, Grain, PRISM international, and The Walrus. “Sleep World” originally appeared in The New Quarterly, where it was the winner of the Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award. Zoey lives in Vancouver, where she is at work on a novel about the whole Emily situation.

  Eliza Robertson grew up on Vancouver Island. She studied writing and political science at the University of Victoria, and pursued her MA in Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where she received the UEA Booker Scholarship and the Curtis Brown Prize. She has been twice long-listed for the Journey Prize and was a finalist for the 2013 CBC Short Story Prize. She is the regional and overall winner for the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She now lives in England, where she has started a PhD.

  Naben Ruthnum lives and writes in Toronto, and has previously published in Riddle Fence, Joyland, Qwerty, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. His pseudonym, Nathan Ripley, recently completed a thriller called Scrapbook. He’s currently working on a novel based on the characters in “Cinema Rex.”

  ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTING PUBLICATIONS

  For more information about the journals that submitted to this year’s competition, The Journey Prize, and The Journey Prize Stories, please visit www.facebook.com/TheJourneyPrize.

  The Dalhousie Review has been in operation since 1921 and aspires to be a forum in which seriousness of purpose and playfulness of mind can coexist in meaningful dialogue. The journal publishes new fiction and poetry in every issue and welcomes submissions from authors around the world. Editor: Carrie Dawson. Submissions and correspondence: The Dalhousie Review, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2. Email: [email protected] Website: www.dalhousiereview.dal.ca

  EVENT features the very best in contemporary writing from Canada and abroad, from literary heavyweights to up-and-comers. For over four decades, EVENT has consistently published award-winning fiction, poetry, non-fiction, notes on writing, and critical reviews – all topped off by stunning Canadian cover art. Recent stories first published in EVENT have gone on to win both the Gold and Silver National Magazine Awards in Fiction in 2012 and 2011, and the Western Magazine Awards in Fiction in 2012 and 2010. EVENT is also home to Canada’s longest-running annual non-fiction contest, and a Reading Service for Writers. Editor: Elizabeth Bachinsky. Managing Editor: Ian Cockfield. Fiction Editor: Christine Dewar. Submissions and correspondence: EVENT, P.O. Box 2503, New Westminster, British Columbia, V3L 5B2. Email (queries only): [email protected] Website: www.eventmags.com

  filling Station is Canada’s experimental literary magazine. fS exists to promote innovative and original poetry, fiction, and literary journalism while encouraging dialogue among local and national writers, assisting the creative advancement of Canadian literature, and bringing this important work to the reading public. By consistently providing an exciting contrast to more traditional literary and arts journals, filling Station remains unique among literary magazines both in Canada and abroad. Managing Editor: Caitlynn Cummings. Fiction Editor: Jon R. Flieger. Submissions and correspondence: filling Station Publications Society, P.O. Box 22135, Bankers Hall RPO, Calgary AB T2P 4J5. Email: [email protected] Website: www.fillingstation.ca

  Grain, the journal of eclectic writing, is a literary quarterly that publishes engaging, diverse, and challenging writing and art by some of the best Canadian and international writers and artists. Every issue features superb new writing from both developing and established writers. Each issue also highlights the unique artwork of a different visual artist. Editor: Rill
a Friesen. Associate Fiction & Nonfiction Editor: Kim Aubrey. Associate Poetry Editor: Adam Pottle. Art Editor & Designer: Betsy Rosenwald. Submissions and correspondence: Grain, P.O. Box 67, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7K 3K1. Email: [email protected] Website: www.grainmagazine.ca

  The Malahat Review is a quarterly journal of contemporary poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction by both new and celebrated writers. Summer issues feature the winners of Malahat’s Novella and Long Poem prizes, held in alternate years; the fall issues feature the winners of the Far Horizons Award for emerging writers, alternating between poetry and fiction each year; the winter issues feature the winners of the Constance Rook Creative Nonfiction Prize; and the spring issues feature winners of the Open Season Awards in all three genres (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction). All issues feature covers by noted Canadian visual artists and include reviews of Canadian books. Editor: John Barton. Assistant Editor: Rhonda Batchelor. Submissions and correspondence: The Malahat Review, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, Station CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 2Y2. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.malahatreview.ca Twitter: @malahatreview

  The New Quarterly is an award-winning literary magazine publishing fiction, poetry, personal essays, interviews, and essays on writing. Now in its thirty-first year, the magazine prides itself on its independent take on the Canadian literary scene. Recent issues include The QuArc issue (a 290-page flip book on the interstices of science and literature undertaken with Arc Poetry Magazine) and The TNQ Extra (writers on their collections and obsessions). Editor: Pamela Mulloy. Submissions and correspondence: The New Quarterly, c/o St. Jerome’s University, 290 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G3. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Website: www.tnq.ca 2012

  Prairie Fire is a quarterly magazine of contemporary Canadian writing that publishes stories, poems, and literary non-fiction by both emerging and established writers. Prairie Fire’s editorial mix also occasionally features critical or personal essays and interviews with authors. Stories published in Prairie Fire have won awards at the National Magazine Awards and the Western Magazine Awards. Prairie Fire publishes writing from, and has readers in, all parts of Canada. Editor: Andris Taskans. Fiction Editors: Warren Cariou and Heidi Harms. Submissions and correspondence: Prairie Fire, Room 423, 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 1H3. Email: [email protected] Website: www.prairiefire.ca

  PRISM international, the oldest literary magazine in Western Canada, was established in 1959 by Earle Birney at the University of British Columbia. Published four times a year, PRISM features short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and translations. PRISM editors select work based on originality and quality, and the magazine showcases work from both new and established writers from Canada and around the world. PRISM holds three exemplary annual competitions for short fiction, literary non-fiction and poetry and awards the Earle Birney Prize for Poetry to an outstanding poet whose work was featured in PRISM in the preceding year. Executive Editors: Sierra Skye Gemma and Jennifer Neale. Fiction Editor: Anna Ling Kaye. Poetry Editor: Leah Horlick. Submissions and correspondence: PRISM international, Creative Writing Program, The University of British Columbia, Buchanan E-462, 1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1. Website: www.prismmagazine.ca

  Submissions were also received from the following publications:

  The Antigonish Review

  (Antigonish, NS)

  www.antigonishreview.com

  Brick, A Literary Journal

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.brickmag.com

  Broken Pencil Magazine

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.brokenpencil.com

  carte blanche

  (Montreal, QC)

  www.carte-blanche.org

  The Claremont Review

  (Victoria, BC)

  www.theclaremontreview.ca

  Descant

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.descant.ca

  ELQ/Exile Literary

  Quarterly Magazine

  (Holstein, ON)

  www.exilequarterly.com

  The Fiddlehead

  (Fredericton, NB)

  www.thefiddlehead.ca

  Found Press Quarterly

  www.foundpress.com

  FreeFall

  (Calgary, AB)

  www.freefallmagazine.ca

  Geist

  (Vancouver, BC)

  www.geist.com

  Joyland Magazine

  www.joylandmagazine.com

  Little Brother Magazine

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.littlebrother

  magazine.com

  Little Fiction

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.littlefiction.com

  Matrix Magazine

  (Montreal, QC)

  www.matrixmagazine.org

  The New Orphic Review

  (Nelson, BC)

  http://www3.telus.net/neworphicpublishershekkanen

  On Spec

  (Edmonton, AB)

  www.onspec.ca

  Plenitude Magazine

  www.plenitudemagazine.ca

  Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature

  (Calgary, AB)

  www.prairiejournal.org

  The Puritan

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.puritan-magazine.com

  Queen’s Quarterly

  (Kingston, ON)

  www.queensu.ca/quarterly

  Room

  (Vancouver, BC)

  www.roommagazine.com

  The Rusty Toque

  (London, ON)

  www.therustytoque.com/index.html

  subTerrain Magazine

  (Vancouver, BC)

  www.subTerrain.ca

  Taddle Creek

  (Toronto, ON)

  www.taddlecreekmag.com

  The Windsor Review

  (Windsor, ON)

  www.windsorreview.wordpress.com

  PREVIOUS CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

  1

  1989

  SELECTED WITH ALISTAIR MACLEOD

  Ven Begamudré, “Word Games”

  David Bergen, “Where You’re From”

  Lois Braun, “The Pumpkin-Eaters”

  Constance Buchanan, “Man with Flying Genitals”

  Ann Copeland, “Obedience”

  Marion Douglas, “Flags”

  Frances Itani, “An Evening in the Café”

  Diane Keating, “The Crying Out”

  Thomas King, “One Good Story, That One”

  Holley Rubinsky, “Rapid Transits”*

  Jean Rysstad, “Winter Baby”

  Kevin Van Tighem, “Whoopers”

  M.G. Vassanji, “In the Quiet of a Sunday Afternoon”

  Bronwen Wallace, “Chicken ’N’ Ribs”

  Armin Wiebe, “Mouse Lake”

  Budge Wilson, “Waiting”

  2

  1990

  SELECTED WITH LEON ROOKE; GUY VANDERHAEGHE

  André Alexis, “Despair: Five Stories of Ottawa”

  Glen Allen, “The Hua Guofeng Memorial Warehouse”

  Marusia Bociurkiw, “Mama, Donya”

  Virgil Burnett, “Billfrith the Dreamer”

  Margaret Dyment, “Sacred Trust”

  Cynthia Flood, “My Father Took a Cake to France”*

  Douglas Glover, “Story Carved in Stone”

  Terry Griggs, “Man with the Axe”

  Rick Hillis, “Limbo River”

  Thomas King, “The Dog I Wish I Had, I Would Call It Helen”

  K.D. Miller, “Sunrise Till Dark”

  Jennifer Mitton, “Let Them Say”

  Lawrence O’Toole, “Goin’ to Town with Katie Ann”

  Kenneth Radu, “A Change of Heart”

  Jenifer Sutherland, “Table Talk”

  Wayne Tefs, “Red Rock and After”

  3

  1991

  SELECTED WITH JANE URQUHART

  Donald Aker, “The Invitation”

  Anton Baer, “Yukon”
/>   Allan Barr, “A Visit from Lloyd”

  David Bergen, “The Fall”

  Rai Berzins, “Common Sense”

  Diana Hartog, “Theories of Grief”

  Diane Keating, “The Salem Letters”

  Yann Martel, “The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios”*

  Jennifer Mitton, “Polaroid”

  Sheldon Oberman, “This Business with Elijah”

  Lynn Podgurny, “Till Tomorrow, Maple Leaf Mills”

  James Riseborough, “She Is Not His Mother”

  Patricia Stone, “Living on the Lake”

  4

  1992

  SELECTED WITH SANDRA BIRDSELL

  David Bergen, “The Bottom of the Glass”

  Maria A. Billion, “No Miracles Sweet Jesus”

  Judith Cowan, “By the Big River”

  Steven Heighton, “A Man Away from Home Has No Neighbours”

  Steven Heighton, “How Beautiful upon the Mountains”

  L. Rex Kay, “Travelling”

  Rozena Maart, “No Rosa, No District Six”*

  Guy Malet De Carteret, “Rainy Day”

  Carmelita McGrath, “Silence”

  Michael Mirolla, “A Theory of Discontinuous Existence”

  Diane Juttner Perreault, “Bella’s Story”

  Eden Robinson, “Traplines”

  5

  1993

  SELECTED WITH GUY VANDERHAEGHE

  Caroline Adderson, “Oil and Dread”

  David Bergen, “La Rue Prevette”

  Marina Endicott, “With the Band”

  Dayv James-French, “Cervine”

  Michael Kenyon, “Durable Tumblers”

  K.D. Miller, “A Litany in Time of Plague”

  Robert Mullen, “Flotsam”

  Gayla Reid, “Sister Doyle’s Men”*

  Oakland Ross, “Bang-bang”

  Robert Sherrin, “Technical Battle for Trial Machine”