Yvette Sin has made the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Cut Out of Something Holy.

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.

Yvette Sin has always been a storyteller, from the secret lives she would make up for her stuffed animals as a kid to the narratives she now creates for film, print and radio. As a creator born out of the many intersections of race, gender and belief, she has always been fascinated by the liminality of human experience. Now in her final year at Ryerson University's media production program, she hopes to continue to grow in the industry and to tell unique, meaningful stories through a variety of media.

"Fathers, daughters and wordless prayers."

"Prompted by a creative writing class in college, I wrote this essay in hopes that it would help me process a conflict I've grappled with for years: reconciling my departure from the Christian faith with my relationship with my father, a devout reverend."

I grew up breathing the dead air between Our Father and Amen. Which is to say: I came of age playing hide-and-seek in Baptist church basements, colouring on offering envelopes behind chapel pews. I learned to read by tripping over the names of Old Testament prophets, learned to count by reciting the plagues of Egypt in order: one, blood, two, frogs.

I was spoon-fed verses and psalms; blessings and benedictions would cradle me in their cadence until, eyelids heavy, I drifted asleep. I was a child of the church, the daughter of a reverend, and yet — despite all this, I never quite learned how to pray.

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.