Shirish Pundit has made the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for Doughnut Holes.

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.

Shirish Pundit has been a practicing immigration and human rights lawyer since 1987. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Edmonton, she's encountered countless tragedies of newcomers and minorities. She is touched by the intersectionality of race, gender, immigrant status, disability in the face of bureaucracy and legal systems. She has defended the rights of Indo-Canadian Sikhs to wear the turban as serving RCMP officers, defended gay rights and successfully sued large corporations for gender discrimination. Pundit is working on her first novel.

"Deaf-mute, language/communication, love, immigration, discrimination"

"Through my work as an immigration and human rights lawyer, I meet amazing people manoeuvring tragic journeys of place, gender, identity, culture and differing abilities. Helping them overcome challenges and seeing them succeed is both inspirational and gratifying. Doughnut Holes creates the world of a Chinese deaf-mute woman who conquers the challenges of living life without language until her mid-twenties. She copes through primitive gestures. Then she meets a man in Canada who teaches her language. How could she not help falling in love with him? He too is deaf and mute.

"These barriers do not impede their love but enhance it. Although 'doughnut holes' appears to be an oxymoron, the actual eating of them is a delightful and genuine experience. Similarly, Caihong's inability to speak and hear defy her surprising ability to make sense of the world around her with grace and compassion."

I am Deaf. I am mute. I am Deaf-mute.

It is common in China to believe that to have a disabled child is to fail not only your family but also your country and your people.

But — I have my senses about me.

My name is Caihong. It means colourful like a rainbow. It reminds me of Jin – my Pekin Robin with a red bill and orange and yellow throat, the one that smashed its beak into the clear glass of my bedroom window, the one I ran out to scoop up and feed until she could fly again. The rare one.

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.