Talia Gukert has made the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for The Monster.

Talia Gukert grew up in Calgary. She is currently in her fourth year at Queen's University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English. She enjoys buying expensive journals and never writing in them, going on long walks by the Bow River with her dog and having absolutely no fear of spiders. Her work has appeared in the anthology Lake Effect 9 and she writes a weekly business newsletter.

"A story of quiet resilience."

"I've always been interested in exploring conceptions of race and identity. I wrote this piece to try and make sense of who I am in the world and where I fit in it, and to try and capture all the tiny nuances and complexities that make up the experience of being a Eurasian woman. The Monster encapsulates a time in my life when I felt torn between my two cultures; when I was too young and naive to know that the only difference between racism and fetishism is that they're two separate sides of the same coin."

He's always on time when he picks me up at my house. I still have my learner's license. I could take the bus to meet him at the restaurant, but he doesn't like the thought of me travelling alone. I am a bundle of nervous energy in the living room, watching his car (his mother's old Mercedes) crawl up beside our front lawn. He never parks in our driveway. In the sweltering August heat, everything shimmers.

The winner of the 2019 CBC Nonfiction 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.

The shortlist will be announced on Sept. 18, 2019. The winner will be announced on Sept. 25, 2019.