Writing student wins coveted literary award

by Lynda Hills

Krukoff

UVic writing student Devin Krukoff had no idea that a trip to Nebraska would win him the Journey Prize.

“I visited a distant family member and the dynamic there was so bizarre. It was the fourth of July and they had the radio turned up to a baseball game and the entire stadium started humming ‘Take me out the ball game’ on kazoos,” he says. “I wasn’t as aware of the cultural divide between the U.S. and Canada before that day.”

In March, the UVic master’s student won the coveted literary award for the short story The Last Spark, which came out of the trip. “Every once in a while it occurs to me that I’ve won the Journey Prize,” Krukoff says. “I still can’t believe it.”

The $10,000 award, sponsored by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and McClelland/Stewart publishers, is given to “a new and developing writer of distinction for a short story published in a Canadian literary journal.”

Each year, literary journals in Canada forward three exceptional stories to the Writers’ Trust, and a dozen stories Canada-wide are selected for the Journey Prize anthology. The final winner is chosen from this anthology.

For Krukoff, even more pleasing is the fact that it’s the first story he’s had published. The Last Spark was originally published in Grain, a journal that comes out of Saskatchewan. “I was surprised to even get into the anthology,” he says.

One of the winning perks was an all-expenses-paid trip to Toronto to receive the award. Celebrations involved a dinner the night before with authors including Alice Munro. Krukoff says he was somewhat nervous around the illustrious company, and especially Munro.

“She had this glow of celebrity about her,” Krukoff says. “It was a little daunting being around all that talent, but everyone was very gracious and kind.”

Previous winners of the prize include Yan Martel, author of Life of Pi. “As far as predecessors go,” Krukoff says, “that’s pretty good company to be in.”

By next year, Krukoff plans to finish his master’s thesis, which is a novel and collection of short fiction. “I’ve heard the award opens doors all over the place, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up,” he says.