The Journey Prize

I've received word through the grapevine that at least two writers with short fiction collections forthcoming from Biblioasis will be included in this year's Journey Prize Anthology. Alexander MacLeod will be included for his story, published in The New Quarterly, Miracle Mile. This was also published last year as the premier story in Frog Hollow Press's Short Fiction Chapbook series, and can be purchased from their website. There's only 3 copies of the hardback left, certain to be a collector's item, so trust me: pick one up while you can. I've bought a couple of extras in the belief that I'll one day be able to retire upon them. It's a beautiful production, and a horrifying story about competitiveness and companionship.

Here's the first paragraph:

This was the day after Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear. You remember that. It was a moment in history - not like Kennedy or the planes flying into the World Trade Center – not up at that level. This was something lower, more like Ben Johnson, back when his eyes were that thick, yellow colour and he tested positive in Seoul after breaking the world-record in the hundred. You might not know exactly where you were standing or exactly what you were doing when you first heard about Tyson or about Ben, but when the news came down, I bet it stuck with you. When Tyson bit off Holyfield’s ear, that cut right through the everyday clutter. All the papers and the television news shows ran the same pictures of Tyson standing there in his black trunks with the blood in his mouth. It seemed like everything else that happened that day had to be related back to this, back to Mike and what he had done. You have to remember, this was before Tyson got the tattoo on his face and the rematch with Holyfield was supposed to be his big comeback, a chance to go straight and be legitimate again. Nobody thinks that now. Now, the only thing you see when you look back to that day is Mike moving in for the kill, the way his cheek brushes up almost intimately against Evander’s face before he breaks down completely and gives in to his rawest impulse. Then the tendons in his neck bulge out and his teeth come grinding down.

With any luck, we'll be releasing Alex's first collection of stories, titled Heavy Lifting, in Spring 2009. Trust me: it's going to be, quite literally, a knock out.

Adrian Michael Kelly's Lure, first published in Prairie Fire, is also up for a Journey Prize. I don't believe I've read this one, though I've read others from the collection, which is still in process. They are all fantastic. I intend to bug Adrian for the story as soon as I finish this post. I have no doubt, however, that this will be as good as everything else I've read from it.

Congrats to both Adrian and Alex.