Finalists for CBC Canada Writes Creative Nonfiction Award Announced

The CBC's Canada Writes competitions are among the most highly anticipated writing contests in the country. This week, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, Air Canada's enroute magazine and the Banff Centre, the CBC's Canada Writes announced the names of the finalists for the CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize / Prix du récit Radio-Canada. Ten creative essays were chosen from over 2,700 submissions

The 5 English-language finalists are:

• Terri Favro of Toronto, ON for "Icarus"

"We danced under a disco ball that turned the floor into a prism of body parts. Fists stirred the air. Denim crotches bumped one another. A ponytail swung like a rope. I clung to the boy's shoulders."

• Matthew Hooton of Victoria, BC for "This Tongue"

"In a village north of Hanoi, I swallow the still-beating heart of a Cobra after watching a man slit open the snake head to tail and drain its blood."

• Jenny Manzer of Victoria, BC for "The Boy with the Galloping Heart"

"On a Doppler monitor, a baby's heart rate sounds like a skipping rope being whipped in a tunnel. The galloping continued. I was presented with a thorny choice, the kind depicted in fables."

• Linda Rosenbaum of Toronto, ON for "Wolf Howling at Moon"

"I hear children laughing in the background. I know the sound should make me happy. It doesn't. I'm tempted to cover my ears."

• Mohan Srivastava of Toronto, ON for "The Gods of Scrabble"

"When Zsóka the Cheater arrived, she gave Mancy a knowing look. 'Always with the young men, Mancy.' I saw Mancy blush again; she seemed easily embarrassed."

The Grand Prize winner, selected by a jury made up of JJ Lee, Ross King and Jan Wong, will be announced on Monday, July 22. The winner will receive a prize of $6,000, a two week residency at the Banff Centre and publication in Air Canada's enroute magazine. Runners up receive a prize of $1,000.

Check back with Open Book: Ontario next week for interviews wih each of the finalists. In the meantime, you are invited to read the submissions at the Canada Writes website and vote for your favourite.

For the French shortlist, click here.