Congratulations, Corinna Chong! It was announced today that she has won the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize for her short story, “Kids in Kindergarten.”
“Kids in Kindergarten is a story about the quietly devastating things we don’t say out loud. Small, seemingly meaningless words like ‘it’ and ‘this’ are made to amplify and carry power so beautifully. The writer has a wonderful ear for sound and speech — a sense for what a real voice can do on the page, filling in character, and creating talk that reveals and feels so true to life. Every character in a scene is never made to be minor no matter how little they say or do. Sharply observed, blunt, at times funny, unflinching, indelible. You won’t mind at all that the last line of the story will break your heart over and over again in just the right place,” the jury said in a statement. The 2021 CBC Short Story jurors were Souvankham Thammavongsa, Craig Davidson and Lee Maracle.
To see more about the CBC Short Story Prize and the announcement of the winner, please go to: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/b-c-writer-and-professor-corinna-chong-wins-2021-cbc-short-story-prize-1.6003867
Corinna is represented by Marilyn Biderman and Samantha Haywood.