Two Maple Ridge writers have been named to the longlist for a 2022 CBC Short Story Prize.
Brody Patterson could win the prize for his story Blood Red Boots.
Patterson writes novels, screenplays and short stories, while studying writing at the University of Victoria and working towards a bachelor of arts. He aspires to work in the film industry, aiming for a career as a screenwriter and director.
Patterson is currently working on a 2022 short film production, Year of the Tortoise, as the production designer and locations manager. He is Métis and resides in Maple Ridge, on the traditional territories of the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations.
Jack Emberly has been nominated for Good-bye Chums.
Emberly is a retired elementary school and special education teacher, columnist for Maple Ridge News, podcaster, video producer and member of the Coquitlam Writers Group. As a reporter for the North Vancouver Citizen Newspaper, he won community newspaper awards in the 1970s. His human interest and entertainment articles appeared in several B.C. magazines in the 1980s and ’90s.
Before taking on his first teaching assignment, he reported for the Nelson Daily News. Emberly’s largely autobiographical book, The King of Anger Mountain, about a grade seven bully, was later revised as a stage play. He is working on a short story collection and a short novel.
They are among 36 writers on the long list, and their stories were selected from among 2,300 submissions.
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A short list will be announced on April 21, and the winner on April 28.
In addition to a cash prize of $6,000, the grand prize winner will receive a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The four runners-up will each receive $1,000. The cash prizes are from the Canada Council for the Arts. The winner and runners-up will also be published on the CBC Books website.
The list of famous Canadian writers who won CBC literary prizes includes Gail Anderson-Dargatz, who wrote The Cure for Death by Lightning, Shauna Singh Baldwin who authored What the Body Remembers, and Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient.
For more information on the CBC Literary Prizes, please visit CBCBooks.ca.
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Have a story tip? Email: ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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