The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

and the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada () is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young (Canadian playwright), David Young; the W ...

for the best short stories published by an emerging writer in a Canadian literary magazine. The award was endowed by

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

, who donated the Canadian royalty earnings from his 1988 novel '' Journey''."Author donates literary prize". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', December 18, 1988. From the award's inception until 2023, a single story was named the winner and received , making it the largest monetary award given in Canada to an up-and-coming writer for a short story or excerpt from a fiction work-in-progress. Since 2023, the award no longer select a single prize winners, and instead all of the 10 writers whose stories are selected for inclusion in the anthology are considered equal winners of the award and receive $1,000 each in prize money. The prize's winner in 2000, Timothy Taylor, was the first writer ever to have three stories nominated for the award in the same year."The patter of little stories". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'', December 2, 2000. The Journey Prize also publishes an annual anthology of the year's longlisted short stories. Two writers, Andrew MacDonald and

David Bergen David Bergen (born January 14, 1957) is a Canadian novelist. He has published eleven novels and two collections of short stories since 1993 and is currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His 2005 novel ''The Time in Between'' won the Scoti ...

, have both had a record four total stories selected for inclusion in the annual anthology. In 2020, the Journey Prize committee announced that the upcoming award would be a special edition devoted exclusively to

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

writers, considering stories published in multiple years."2021 Journey Prize will focus on emerging Black Canadian writers"
.

CBC Books CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...

, June 23, 2020. Although the initial report was that the special Black Canadian edition of the award would be presented in 2021 for stories published in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the organizers instead paused the award for 2021 and 2022, and presented a special Black Canadian award in early 2023 to honour works published since 2020.Dana Gee
"Prestigious short story anthology focuses on emerging Canadian Black writers"
''

'', February 14, 2023. In 2024, the 25th anniversary of the awards was marked with a special retrospective anthology, edited by Alexander MacLeod and Souvankham Thammavongsa, compiling selected winning and nominated stories from throughout the history of the awards.

Winners and nominees

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

References

External links

Journey Prize
{{James A. Michener, state=collapsed Writers' Trust of Canada awards Awards established in 1989 1989 establishments in Canada Short story awards Canadian fiction awards English-language literary awards