Living Room by Barbara Tran

Barbara Tran has made the 2018 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for Living Room.

About Barbara

Born in New York City, Barbara Tran is an immigrant. Her poems have appeared in Women's Review of Books, Ploughsharesand The New Yorker. Honours include a MacDowell Colony GeraldFreund Fellowship, Pushcart Prizeand Lannan Foundation Writing Residency. Tranis indebted to Hedgebrook for radical hospitality at a crucial time, as well as to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for support that makes it possible for her to write in the vibrant city of Toronto, where she lives with her partner and their two canine adoptees, Tashi and Sprocket.

Entry in five-ish words

Family album as incomplete puzzle.

The story's source of inspiration

"When a family migrates under duress, so many things are left behind. One can only fit so much into the suitcase (assuming fortuneenough to have a suitcase), so much in the heart, so much in the head. Some things are left behind on purpose. Some things are lost on the way to the future. My father took many photographs after the family left Vietnam and landed in New York City. The photographs withhold as much as they tell."

First lines

About the 2018CBC Nonfiction Prize

The winner of the 2018 CBCNonfiction Prize will receive$6,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts, will have their story published onCBC Booksandwill have the opportunity to attend a writing residency atthe Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand have their story published onCBC Books.