Douglas Reid has made the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for The Colour of Fear.

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.

Douglas Reid is from Abbotsford, B.C., on the unceded territory of the Matsqui, Sumas and Stó:lo nation. He used to write poetry and produce art and photography. His livelihood was in education, working with special education students and prison inmates. In retirement, he was free to pursue novel writing, drawing inspiration from travel, spirituality, ecology and inclusion. Reid has published one novel, The Buddha Technology, and has two more in progress. He recently discovered short stories and is working toward publishing a collection.

"Epidemics cast a long shadow."

"I worked at a camp for people with disabilities that was originally built for survivors of the polio epidemic. Some of the staff had contracted it when they were little. I wanted to express sympathy for their struggles. I was also aware of the parallels with COVID-19 that affect everyone in some way."

Mother was downsizing. That meant rounds of boxes coming to my apartment for me to go through and sort. In the latest box I found a picture I drew of my family when I was about six. There was also a photo of me working at the table by the window, my hand wrapped around a crayon, tongue visible between my lips as I concentrated. Mom wrote on the back: "So cute!"

What my mother didn't know was what that picture meant to me. I recall searching through my Crayola box of 24 colours for the right shade.

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.