Kayode Ajayi has made the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for To Pluto and Back.

The winner of the 2021 CBC Nonfiction 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 Sept. 22 and the winner will be announced on Sept. 29.

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

Kayode Ajayi is a writer and photographer. His photo essays have appeared in magazines and newspapers across Northern Canada. He lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.

"Discover homeland and rediscover family."

"A trip from Iqaluit to Lagos which changed my identity as a hyphenated Canadian."

As soon as we get to my father's village outside of Akure, Nigeria, we begin a systematic tour of surprise visits to his brothers and sisters. We arrive unannounced, without warning, at places of employment, in living rooms while the TV is on, in unlit courtyards after sunset and stand and talk in light so low that the expensive camera I brought searches and searches, failing to differentiate our dark skin from the dark sky.

I feel a common connection surrounded by people with dark skin. I want to belong with them and for them to know me. But, these are introductions without names. My hand is clasped and re-clasped, hands are held to hearts, tears are shed. Some of my aunts are so excited I don't know how to react. They shake me in dancing hugs.

The winner of the 2021 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 the 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 Short Story Prize is currently open for submissions until Oct. 31, 2021. The 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January and the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April.