A Suitable Tree by Jane Stevenson

2021 CBC Short Story Prize longlist

Image | Jane Stevenson

Caption: Jane Stevenson is a writer living in Smithers, B.C. (Michelle Gazely)

Jane Stevenson has made the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for A Suitable Tree.
The winner of the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts(external link), have their work published on CBC Books(external link) and have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity(external link). Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts(external link) and have their work published on CBC Books(external link).
The shortlist will be announced on April 22 and the winner will be announced on April 29.

About Jane Stevenson

Jane Stevenson was born by the Atlantic Ocean in St. Lawrence, N.L., and grew up across Canada by the Pacific Ocean in Kitimat, B. C. She now lives in Smithers, B.C., with her two daughters. When Jane isn't working, she enjoys reading, writing, visiting with friends and walking throughout the beautiful valley. As often as possible, she retreats to her off-the-grid cabin, hidden in the forest on the Skeena River.

Entry in five-ish words

"Surviving is the best revenge."

The story's source of inspiration

"The location and the time were the inspiration for the story. Kitimat in the 1950s is so interesting with the massive industrial smelter project, the remote coastal location, the pioneers, the First Nations. For me, the location and time is ripe with creative conflict and potential stories and I can let my imagination run away. I am typically a historical researcher and writer, but I also really love to take those true places and real events and make stuff up and not extensively fact check."

First lines

For all of July and these last two weeks of August the grey sky has poured down unrelenting rain. Rains that cause slippery boardwalk pathways to float, muddy ditches to overflow and creeks to burst over banks and carve away the earth between the camp houses. Today, the sun is out and shines unfamiliar on the Kitimat smelter construction site. The roof tin glares, machinery shines and steam rises off of the soggy dirt.
She watches Sergio and Harv as they lift her husband's coffin off the edge of the dock and set it down onto the floor of Father Frank's open boat.
Verochka stands at the edge of the ocean. She teeters on the beach rocks as the waves lap at her black rubber boots. The tide is rising. She is wearing her dead husband's company-issued rain jacket and her cold fingertips clutch at the cuffs. There is as much salt water running out of her eyes as there is pooling around her feet. She watches Sergio and Harv as they lift her husband's coffin off the edge of the dock and set it down onto the floor of Father Frank's open boat.

About the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize

The winner of the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts(external link), have their work published on CBC Books(external link) and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity(external link). Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts(external link) and have their work published on CBC Books(external link).
The 2021 CBC Poetry Prize is open for submissions until May 31, 2021. The 2022 CBC Short Story Prize will open in September and the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January 2022.