Peter Forestell has made the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for The Cure for Plastic.

Peter Forestell is a writer and PhD candidate in English at the University of Calgary. In recent months, he has returned to his hometown of Saint John, N.B., to finish his dissertation, a novel, in greater proximity to the ocean.

What we do for friends.

"My BFF Jess was telling me about all the ways plastic gets into the ocean, including microfibres found in clothes and through that conversation, the story took shape."

I never wanted kids. Even as Heather handed over the manilla envelope stuffed with Leigh's documents, and left me alone, truly alone, for the first time with her daughter — my daughter now — I knew that much. A child, especially a baby, would ruin my life — no, that's not right, that's not fair, our life, I should say, a baby would ruin our life, the life I built with Danny.

The winner of the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.