Really happy to be on the CBC Short Story Prize Shortlist this year, for a piece called ‘Ghostworlds’. Canada Writes has put the story online now, please go here to read.

Very appreciative of this recognition. Wanted to say a couple of words about the image that the CBC created to accompany the story, above. I’m pretty sure I could never have conceived of an image like this to reflect the story. It’s perfect. It’s got details from the story in a way that goes straight to my heart. Really amazed to think that an artist read this story and put this together, that’s a bit overwhelming.

Yes, the story is kind of about a drawer that won’t open, and it’s about the places people go when they don’t want to deal with reality, and it’s about time and space and how we get back to ourselves, and remember who we actually are. That we’re here, in the present, in the real world, and that’s what matters. Loss, age, distance, these all modulate our passage through life, and out there, maybe other civilizations have already gone through what we are going through now.

It’s always hard for me to understand and appreciate seeing my words anywhere. The first and most courageous step was just sending the words out – making little ghostworlds that could temporarily be immersive, returning us to reality with what? A different perspective, a tiny bit of entertainment, an altered viewpoint, maybe. But hopefully also with a sense of all the things people can do, that we have done. I believe in us. That’s why I write.