Cellophane by Stephanie Duong
CBC Books | Posted: September 7, 2023 1:30 PM | Last Updated: September 7, 2023
2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist
Stephanie Duong has made the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Cellophane. The shortlist will be announced on Sept. 14 and the winner will be announced on Sept. 21.
If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the 2024 CBC Short Story Prize is open for submissions until November 1st.
About Stephanie Duong
Stephanie Duong is a pastry chef and entrepreneur from Toronto. She is the co-owner of Roselle Desserts, an acclaimed pastry shop she founded in 2015. She has always dreamed of exploring her creative side through writing. Cellophane is her first work of nonfiction and based on her early career struggles as a young pastry chef working in Paris.
Entry in five-ish words
"Finding courage in unexpected places."
The story's source of inspiration
"In late 2011, I moved to Paris and worked for a world-renowned chocolatier and pastry chef. These were some of the most formative months of my life, as I tried to find my place in a toxic kitchen and adapt to life as an ex-pat in Paris while falling in love with the man who would eventually become my husband."
First lines
"My friend would like to work here," Bruce said to the server in perfect French, nudging me forward. She nodded, her trained eyes not once drifting down to my wrinkled sweatshirt.
Everyone was dressed in black, hair pulled snug against their scalp, not a strand out of place. They floated within the space with white gloves on their slender fingers, placing immaculate bon bons in tin containers. The display cases were recessed into the counters, like a secret. Cakes lined in neat rows, sugar glimmered off the caramelized tops of cream puffs; chocolate eclairs so shiny, we caught our goofy grins in them.
About the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize
The winner of the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and win a two-week writing residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.
The 2024 CBC Short Story Prize is currently open until Nov. 1, 2023 at 4:59 p.m. ET. The 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January 2024 and the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April 2024.