Barbara Switocz-Robson has made the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for The Recipe for Scalloped Potatoes.

The winner of the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and have the opportunity to 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 April 21 and the winner will be announced on April 28.

If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize is open for submissions until May 31.

Barbara Switocz-Robson is a writer living in Toronto. She was born and raised in Sarnia, Ont. She holds a BA and MA in English and Linguistics, as well as a BEd. She taught secondary school in rural Nigeria for three years. After returning to Canada, she worked for a federal cabinet minister, established her own company teaching business writing and worked as a teacher. She has also lived in Ottawa, Calgary and Warsaw. Robson is currently at work on a collection of short stories.

"Immigrants' daughter struggles to belong."

"As a teacher, I have often observed first and second-generation children of immigrants as bridge builders. These children try to bridge the cultural gap between their home lives and their communities. Straddling two cultures is both joyful and burdensome. There is an aching to belong — but to belong to both sides. My parents were immigrants and I was inspired to write The Recipe for Scalloped Potatoes by the gap I often felt between my home life and my community. Perceptions, assumptions and prejudices all play a role."

The girl grips the note. Her hand is sweating.

Home is a few short blocks past red-brown, brick bungalows indistinguishable one from another. It's early June, but feels as hot as mid-summer. The late afternoon sun highlights the stark brightness on the white siding of the house at the end of the street, where she lives. At the screen door, an aroma wafts like a steamy fog — bay leaves, barley, and mushrooms simmering in beef stock. From the kitchen, she hears a grating sound as her mother shifts pots across the coil burners.

The winner of the 2022 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.

The 2022 CBC Poetry Prize is currently open for submissions until May 31, 2022. The 2023 CBC Short Story Prize will open in September and the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January 2023.