May is Short Story Month here are 14 Canadian collections to check out

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

Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortalityby Lindsay Wong

Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortalityis a collection of "immigrant horror stories." From Shanghai to Vancouver, the women inTell Me Pleasant Things about Immortalityhaunt and are haunted by first loves, troublesome family members and traumatic memories.

• Lindsay Wong writes 'immigrant horror stories' in new bookTell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality

Lindsay Wong is a Vancouver-based author. She holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. Wong's memoirThe Woo-Woowasa finalist for the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfictionand was defended byJoe ZeeonCanada Reads2019.CBC Booksnamed Wonga writer to watchin 2019 andMy Summer of Love and Misfortune,her first YA novel, was published in 2020.

LISTEN | Lindsay Wong on writing immigrant ghost stories:

Q18:58Author Lindsay Wong is writing a new kind of ghost story

Author Lindsay Wong talks about the stigma around mental illness, growing up with ghosts, and what inspired her new book of short stories, Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality.

Old Babes in the Woodby Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood's latest is a collection of 15 stories that use story andAtwood's signature intellect and wit to speak to our modern times. At the centre of the collection are seven stories about a couple through the decades, mapping how their life evolves through the mundane and the extraordinary.

• 81 surprising facts about Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is a celebrated Canadian writer who has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and comics. Her acclaimed books includeThe Handmaid's Tale,Alias Grace,Oryx and CrakeandThe Edible Woman. She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, the ScotiabankGiller Prizeand the Booker Prize. She is also a founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada.

LISTEN | Margaret Atwood on the power of AI:

The Current38:13Margaret Atwood on grief, censorship and whether AI could ever replicate her writing

Margaret Atwoods new book, Old Babes in the Wood, is a collection of short stories that may be her most personal work yet. Galloway spoke with her about those old babes, grief and loss, censorship, and whether she thinks artificial intelligence could ever replicate her writing.

Chrysalisby Anuja Varghese

Chrysalisis a short story collection that examines the ways in which racialized women are undermined and exploited and the ways in which they reclaim their power. Blending realism with elements of fantasy, Varghesetells stories of a womandying in her sleep repeatedly until she finds an unexpected refuge or a couple in a broken marriage encountering spiritual direction. Each story looks at family, sexuality, cultural norms and the ties that bind.

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.

The Whole Animalby Corinna Chong

The Whole Animalis a collection of short stories that examines the power,strangeness and attributesof human and animal bodies.Chongexposes themes of loneliness,loss and self-discoverythrough stories like that of a child fixating on the hair growing out of her mother's eyelid or a linguist's attempts to connect with a boy who cannot speak.

• How Corinna Chong wrote the story that won the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize

Originally from Calgary, Corinna Chong lives in Kelowna, B.C. and teaches English and fine arts at Okanagan College. She published her first novelBelinda's Ringsin 2013.Her short fiction has been published in magazines across Canada, including The Malahat Review, Room, Grain and The Humber Literary Review.

In 2021, she won theCBC Short Story PrizeforKids in Kindergarten, which appears inThe Whole Animal.

Instructions for the Drowningby Steven Heighton

Instructions for the Drowningis a short story collection that explores themes of love and fear, delusion and idealism and the ironic ways we come up short despite trying our very best. In one, a man remembers his father's instructions for how to save someone who is drowning, but then finds himselfconflicted when the moment arrives to act. In another, a man fixated by stories of freak accidents ends up bearing the brunt of one himself.

• The key to Steven Heighton's success as a Canadian poet and author is staying humble and true to the art

Steven Heighton was an award-winning Ontario novelist, short story writer and poet. He debuted in 1989 withStalin's Carnival, a poetry collection that earned him the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. His next work,The Ecstasy of Skeptics,was shortlisted for the 1995 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry. He received the 2016 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry forThe Waking Comes Late.His recent books includeReaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos, afinalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, andSelected Poems 1983-2020. In 2021, Heighton released his first album,The Devil's Share. Heightondied in April 2022.

Places Like Theseby Lauren Carter

Places Like Theseis a short story collection that covers the globe from Ecuador to San Francisco to small-town Ontario or northern Manitoba.From a teenager dealing with the emotional toll of the oncoming climate crisis to a widow searching for her late husband through a spiritual guide or a sexual assault survivor navigating her boundaries and the expectations of her boyfriend's family, each story paints aportrait of a character longing for connection and confronting their demons.

• 2023 CBC Poetry Prize is now open to Canadian poets

Lauren Carter writes, teaches writing and mentors other writers. She is the author of four books of fiction, includingThis Has Nothing to Do with You, which won the 2020 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction. She has also received the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer.Her short storyRhubarbwon the Prairie Fire Fiction Award. Her debut novel,Swarm, was longlisted forCanada Reads2014. In 2017, Carter made theCBC Poetry Prize longlistforLie Down Within the Night. She was previously longlisted for the 2013 CBC Poetry Prize for Migration (1851-1882) and longlisted for the 2015 CBC Short Story Prize for River's Edge. She was raised in Ontario and now livesjust outside of Winnipeg.

The Private Apartmentsby Idman Nur Omar

The Private Apartmentsis a series of stories about Somali immigrants and their will to survive despite the racism, displacement, trauma and isolation they endure. From a wife who escapes her broken marriage by attending weddings to a young mother who forms friendships in her community housing project, each character showcases the hope, persistence and beauty of these people.

Idman Nur Omar is a Calagry-based writer who alsoteaches at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in the communication and liberal arts department.

This Time, That Placeby Clark Blaise

This Time, That Placeis the latest short story collection from Clark Blaise. The collection brings together 24 stories written over the course of Blaise's career, taking readers to Montreal, Florida, Pittsburgh and more.This Time, That Placedemonstrates why Blaise isone of Canada's greatest short story writers.

Blaise is a Canadian American writer who has written more than two dozen books. His other books include the short story collectionsA North American EducationandThe Meagre Tarmac, the novelsLunar AttractionsandIfIWere Meand the memoirsDays and Nights in CalcuttaandI had a Father. In 2010, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Centuryby Kim Fu

InLesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, acollection of short stories, Kim Fu turns the familiar on its head to weave tales of new worlds where strange happenings, like a girl growing wings on her legs or toy boxes that control the passage of time, are the ordinary trappings of everyday life. The stories deal with themes of death, technological consequence, guilt and sexuality and unmask the contradictions within humanity.

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Centurywasshortlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• Kim Fu'sLesser Known Monsters of the 21st Centurypeers into the magical, transportive power of short stories

Fu is a Washington-based, Canadian-born fiction writer and poet. She has published two other works of fiction,For Today I Am a BoyandThe Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, and a book of poetry calledHow Festive the Ambulance.

LISTEN | Kim Fu on writing short stories:

The Next Chapter17:43Kim Fu on Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Kim Fu talks to Shelagh Rogers about her short story collection, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century.

Stray Dogsby Rawi Hage

The characters inStray Dogs, ashort story collection, 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 Dogswasshortlisted for the 2022 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,Cockroach,CarnivalandBeirut Hellfire Society.Cockroachwas defended by Samantha Bee onCanada Reads2014.

LISTEN | Rawi Hage on writing Stray Dogs:

12:13Rawi Hage on Stray Dogs

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

Animal Personby Alexander MacLeod

The stories in Alexander MacLeod's latest collection 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

Alexander 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 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 on writing Animal Person:

The Next Chapter17:00Alexander MacLeod on Animal Person

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

Ezra's Ghostsby Darcy Tamayose

InEzra's Ghosts, acollection of fantastical stories, Darcy Tamayose introduces a cast of characters whose lives intersect in a quiet prairie town called Ezra. From a seeker of truth trapped in Ezra after her violent death, to the oldest man in townwho came to Canada to escape imperial hardships, the stories inEzra's Ghostsare linked by language, culture and grief.

Ezra's Ghostswasa finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

• Darcy Tamayose uses magic realism to explore the immigrant experience

Darcy Tamayose is a writer and graphic designer from southern Alberta. Her work includes the novel,Odoriand the YA bookKatie Be Quiet. Tamayose lives in Lethbridge, Alta.

Her First Palestinianby Saeed Teebi

Her First Palestinianis a debut collection of short stories revolving around thePalestinian immigrant experiencein Canada. Thestories explorethemes of identity, loss, power and belonging as they look at the diverse and layered experiences of thePalestinian diaspora.One of the stories in the collection, the titularHer First Palestinian, wasshortlisted for the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize.

Her First Palestinianwasa finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

• Saeed Teebi celebrates Palestinian identity and community in new story collection

Saeed Teebi is a writer and lawyer based in Toronto. He was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait and, after some time in the U.S., has lived in Canada since 1993.Her First Palestinianis his first book.

LISTEN | Saeed Teebi reflects on his literary success:

Q22:37Saeed Teebi on his debut story collection Her First Palestinian

In his debut story collection, Her First Palestinian, Saeed Teebi shines a light on the varied experiences of Palestinian Canadian characters navigating their way through life in their new home country. He joined Tom Power to tell us more.

Buffalo is the New Buffaloby Chelsea Vowel

In theshort story collectionBuffalo is the New Buffalo, Chelsea Vowel explores science fiction tropes through a Mtis lens. From a rougarou (shapeshifter) in the 19th century trying to solve a murder in her community to a Mtis man who's gored by a radioactive bison and gains super strength, these stories seek to understand the impact of colonization, remove its psychological baggage and recover ancestral traditions.Buffalo is the New Buffaloexplores Indigenous existence and resistance and rewrites our shared history.

• Chelsea Vowel challenges sci-fi tropes and explores Mtis futurism inBuffalo is the New Buffalo

Vowel is a Mtis writer and educator whose work focuses on language, gender identity and cultural resurgence. She is also the author ofIndigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Mtis & Inuit Issues in Canada,which addresses stereotypes and assumptions about Indigenous issues and offers insight into the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. She also contributed to graphic novel,This Place,which was adapted into a10-episode podcastfor CBC Books.

LISTEN | Chelsea Vowel on A Buffalo is the New Buffalo:

The Next Chapter20:19Chelsea Vowel on Buffalo is the new Buffalo

Chelsea Vowel talks to Shelagh Rogers about her new book, Buffalo is the new Buffalo.