OCNews

Corinna Chong has been named the winner of the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize, for her piece “Kids in Kindergarten.”

“I’m thrilled to receive this incredible honour,” said Chong. “I was so impressed by the other four shortlisted stories that to hear mine was chosen as the winner was a total shock.”

Writing by the Okanagan College professor has received renewed attention this week, after she was shortlisted in the prestigious competition. Her piece explores themes of pregnancy loss and the trials of conception, and how women often suffer silently because of the taboo nature of miscarriage.

Chong joined Okanagan College in 2011, teaching English and fine arts to students within the Writing and Publishing Diploma program. She received her MA in English and creative writing from the University of New Brunswick. Her first novel, Belinda's Rings, was published in 2013 by NeWest Press. Her reviews and short fiction have been published in magazines across Canada, including The Malahat Review, Room, Grain and The Humber Literary Review.

“This is a prestigious award, and Corinna is so deserving of this recognition. Corinna brings her expertise as a writer to all of her students as a College Professor in the Department of English, and our programming is all the stronger for it,” said Robert Huxtable, Dean of Arts and Foundational Programs at Okanagan College.

As the winner of the CBC Short Story Prize, Chong will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts in addition to a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

To read Chong’s piece, “Kids in Kindergarten,” visit the CBC Books webpage: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/kids-in-kindergarten-by-corinna-chong-1.5970419.

To read an interview about how Chong wrote the story, visit: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/how-corinna-chong-wrote-the-story-that-won-the-2021-cbc-short-story-prize-1.6004082.