14 Canadian short story collections to read for Short Story Month

May is Short Story Month. Celebrate by checking out one of these great Canadian short story collections.

Cocktailby Lisa Alward

Cocktailis a short story collection that explores some of life's watershed moments and the tiny horrors of domestic life. Beginning in the 1960s and moving forward through the decades,Cocktailtells intimate and immersive stories about the power ofdesire and the cost of pursuing it.

Cocktailwas longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize andshortlisted for the Danuta GleedLiterary Award.

• The CBC Poetry Prize is open for Canadian writers from April 1 to June 1

Lisa Alward's short fiction has appeared inThe Journey Prize Stories 2017,Best CanadianStories 2017andBest Canadian Stories 2016. She is the winner of the New Quarterly's 2016 Peter Hinchcliffe ShortFiction Award as well as the 2015 Fiddlehead Short Fiction Prize. She lives in Fredericton. She was onthe 2018 CBC Short Story Prize longlistforOrlando 1974which is included inCocktail.

LISTEN | Lisa Alward on her short story collectionCocktail:

Information Morning - Moncton13:50Fredericton writer Lisa Alward will be talks about her debut short story collection

Lisa Alward's new book is called Cocktail.

Death by a Thousand Cutsby Shashi Bhat

Death by a Thousand Cutstraces the funny, honest and difficult parts of womanhood. From a writer whose ex published a book about their breakup to the confession wrought by a Reddit post, these stories probe rage, loneliness, bodily autonomy and these women's relationships with themselves just as much as those around them.

• Shashi Bhat writes about the South Asian female experience in her collection of short stories

Shashi Bhat's previous novels includeThe Family Took Shape, a finalist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award andThe Most Precious Substance on Earth,which was also a finalist for theGovernor General's Literary Award for fictionin 2022. Her short stories won the Writers' Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and been shortlisted for a National Magazine Award and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Bhat lives in New Westminster, B.C.

LISTEN | Shashi Bhat discusses Death by a Thousand Cutson The Early Edition:

The Early Edition9:35Death by a Thousand Cuts is the latest book by New West author Shashi Bhat

Shashi Bhat writes about the South Asian female experience in her collection of short stories.

The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Societyby Christine Estima

The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Societyis a collection of connected stories that traces the immigrant experience of an Arab family through multiple generations. From brave Syrian refugees to trailblazing Lebanese freedom fighters,Azuree knows she comes from a long line of daring Arab women.These stories follow her as she explores ideas oflove, faith, despair and the effects of war and what those family histories mean for her as an Arab woman in the 21st century.

• Christine Estima's vibrant story collection highlights the heart and history of the Arab diaspora in Montreal

Christine Estima is a writer, playwright and journalist living in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications and she was longlisted for the 2015CBC NonfictionPrize.The Syrian Ladies BenevolantSocietyis her first book.

LISTEN | Christine Estima on The Next Chapter:

The Next Chapter19:27Christine Estima highlights the contributions of Arab Canadians in her latest book

The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society is a collection of connected stories that trace the immigrant experience through multiple generations.

Her Body Among Animalsby Paola Ferrante

Her Body Among Animalsis a genre-bending collection of short stories that merges sci-fi, horror, fairy tales and pop culture to examine the challenges and boundaries society places on women's bodies.

Her Body Among Animalsis shortlisted for the Danuta GleedLiterary Award.

• 5 Canadian authors shortlisted for $10K Danuta Gleed Literary Award for best debut short story collection

Paola Ferrante is a poet and fiction writer from Toronto. Her books include the poetry collectionWhat to Wear When Surviving A Lion Attackand the poetry chapbookThe Dark Unwind.She was longlisted for the 2020 Journey Prize and wonRoom's 2018 prize for fiction.

Soft Serveby Allison Graves

Soft Serveis an edgy short story collectionall about unconventional attachments between people and the reasons they endure. Through random encounters on highways, dating apps and fast food chains, the characters in these storiesconnect as they wander through the spaces real and virtual of our modern lives.

• How a cappuccino sparked Allison Graves' writing career

Allison Graves is a Newfoundland-based writer and musician. Her work has appeared in The Antigonish Review, Riddle Fence Magazine and Room Magazine. Her fiction has been longlisted for prizes in Prism, The Fiddlehead andThe Newfoundland Quarterly.Soft Serveis her debut fiction collection.

LISTEN | Allison Graveson The Next Chapter:

The Next Chapter3:05How a cappuccino sparked Allison Graves writing career

The Newfoundlander talks about getting her start in writing, and her first short story collection titled Soft Serve. The collection features millennial characters navigating the weird and uncomfortable aspects of life, while exploring what she likes to call non-places.

Tales for Late Night Bonfiresby G.A. Grisenthwaite

InTales for Late Night Bonfires,writer G.A. Grisenthwaiteblends theIndigenoustradition of oral storytelling with his own unique literarystyle. From tales about an impossible moose hunt to tales about the "Real Santa,"Grisenthwaitecrafts witty stories each more uncanny than the last.

• G.A. Grisenthwaite's novelHome Waltzis a coming-of-age story about friendship, identity and acceptance

Grisenthwaite is Nekepmx, a member of the Lytton First Nation who currently lives in Kingsville, Ont.He made the2021 CBC Short Story Prize longlistand his 2020 debut novelHome Waltzwas shortlisted for theGovernor General's Literary Award for fiction.

Stray Dogsby Rawi Hage

The characters in Stray Dogs are restless travellers, moving between nation states and states of mind, seeking connection and trying to escape the past. Set in Montreal, Beirut, Tokyo and more, these stories highlight the often random ways our fragile modern identities are constructed, destroyed and reborn.

Stray Dogswas on the 2022 shortlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• Rawi Hage's short story collectionStray Dogscaptures snapshots of the lives of people on the move

Rawi Hageis a Montreal-based writer. His books includeDe Niro's Game,which won the International Dublin Literary Award in 2008;Cockroach,which received the Hugh MacLennan Prize for fiction, was defended by Samantha Bee onCanada Readsin 2014, and was shortlisted for theScotiabank Giller Prizeand the Governor General's Literary Award;Carnival,which was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize; andBeirut Hellfire Society,which was on the shortlist forthe Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prizeandthe Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.

LISTEN | Rawi Hageon The Next Chapter:

12:13Rawi Hage on Stray Dogs

Rawi Hage talks to Shelagh Rogers about his book Stray Dogs and Other Stories.

The Islandsby Dionne Irving

Set across the United States, Jamaica and Europe from the 1950s to present day,The Islandsdetails the migration stories of Jamaican women and their descendants. Each short story explores colonialism and its impact as women experience the on-going tensions between identity and the place they long to call home.

The Islandswasshortlisted for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• Dionne Irving'sThe Islandsfollows the migration stories of Jamaican women

DionneIrving is a writer and creative writing teacher from Toronto. She released her first novel,Quint,in 2021 and her work has been featured in journals and magazines like LitHub, Missouri Review and New Delta Review.The Islandsis her debut short story collection.

LISTEN | Dionne IrvingdiscussesThe Islands:

The Next Chapter13:12Searching for home and belonging in The Islands

Dionne Irving grew up working at her family's Caribbean grocery store in Toronto, and it was where she found inspiration for some of the stories in her Scotiabank Giller Prize-shortlisted collection The Islands.

Animal Personby Alexander MacLeod

The stories in Alexander MacLeod's latest collection,Animal Person,explore the struggle for meaning and connection in an age where many of us feel cut off from so much, including ourselves. From two sisters having a petty argument to a family on the brink of a new life, these stories pick at the complexity of our shared human experience.

• Alexander MacLeod's short story collection Animal Person explores love, compromise and the idea of self

MacLeod is a short story writer and academic from Cape Breton and raised in Windsor, Ont. MacLeod's debut short story collectionLight Liftingwas shortlisted for the 2010Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2011 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Prize. It also won the Atlantic Book Award. In 2019, he won an O. Henry Award for his short storyLagomorph.He currently lives in Dartmouth, N.S.

LISTEN | Alexander MacLeod onThe Next Chapter:

The Next Chapter17:00Alexander MacLeod on Animal Person

Alexander MacLeod talks to Shelagh Rogers about his new collection of short stories, Animal Person.

Shut Up You're Pretty by Ta Mutonji

Shut Up You're Prettyis a short fiction collection that tells stories of a young woman coming of age in the 21st century in Scarborough, Ont.The disarming, punchy and observant stories follow her as she watches someone decide to shaveher head in an abortion clinic waiting room, bonds with her mother over fish and contemplates her Congolese traditions at a wedding.

Shut Up You're Prettywas onthe 2019 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize shortlistand won the 2020 Edmund White Award for debut fiction. It was championed by Kudakwashe Rutendo on Canada Reads 2024.

• Why Ta Mutonji wanted her first short story collection to challenge what diverse literature is supposed to be

Ta Mutonjiwas nameda writer to watch in 2019byCBC Books. Born in Congo-Kinshasa, Mutonji is also the editor of the anthologyFeel Ways: A Scarborough Anthology.She currently lives in Toronto.

Half-Wild and Other Stories of Encounterby Emily Paskevics

Theshort stories inHalf-Wild and Other Stories of Encounteruse the wilderness a a backdrop to focus on the connection between humans and the natural world and the intergenerational relationships within families. From a father searching for his wife and child wondering if they're better off without him, to an old woman standing on a frozen lake contemplating her death this collection askswhat it meansto be a human in nature.

Emily Paskevics is a writer andeditor currently based in Montreal. She is the author of the chapbookThe Night That Was Animal.Her poetry, essaysand short fiction have appearedinnumerous publications and she waslonglistedfor the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize. In 2022, Paskevics was named one of six emerging writers shortlisted for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards in the short fiction category.

Peacocks of Instagramby Deepa Rajagopalan

The collection of stories inPeacocks of Instagrampaint a tapestry of the Indian diaspora. Tales of revenge, love, desire and family explore the intense ramifications of privilege, or lack thereof. Coffee shop and hotel housekeeping employees, engineers and children show us all of themselves, flaws and all.

Deepa Rajagopalan was the 2021 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award winner. Born to Indian parents in Saudi Arabia, she has lived across India, the United Statesand Canada. Her previous writing has appeared in publications such as theBristol Short Story Prize Anthology, the New Quarterly, Room and Arc. Rajagopalannow lives and works in Ontario.

Chrysalis Anuja Varghese

Chrysalisis a short story collection that centres South Asian women, showing how they reclaim their power in a world that constantly undermines them. Exploring sexuality, family and cultural norms, this collection deals with desire and transformation.

Chrysaliswon the2023 Governor General's Literary Award for fictionand the 2023Dayne Ogilvie Prize.

• Anuja Varghese looks at death, life & the shackles of identity in this original short story

Anuja Vargheseis a Hamilton, Ont.-based writer and editor. Her stories have been recognized in the Prism International Short Fiction Contest and the Alice Munro Festival Short Story Competition and nominated for the Pushcart Prize.Chrysalisis her first book.

LISTEN | Anuja Varghesediscusses Chrysalis:

The Next Chapter13:48Anuja Varghese's short story collection sizzles with desire and transformation

Hamilton-based writer Anuja Varghese shares the inspiration behind her debut short story collection, Chrysalis.

Avalancheby Jessica Westhead

The short stories inAvalancheall take a critical look at the ideas of whiteness, identity and relationships. The characters encounter and perpetuate everyday racism in many of its insidious forms and reckon with the implications of that.

• Why Jessica Westhead wanted to explore the everyday fears of motherhood in her fiction

Jessica Westheadis the author of the novelPulpy & Midgeand the short story collectionAnd Also Sharks. Her novelWorrywason theCanada Reads2020 longlist.

LISTEN | Jessica Westhead on The Next Chapter:

The Next Chapter2:40Jessica Westhead on Worry

Jessica Westhead on exploring ordinary fears in her debut novel Worry.