The finalists for the Seventh Annual Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize have been announced, and Hunger Moon (NeWest Press), by Traci Skuce, made the Literary Fiction List.

Hunger Moon is a collection of stories that echo with the yearning to be replenished, to be made full. Here are characters at cusp-points in their lives, attempting to shift their trajectories: to cease wrapping up heart’s desire in a pink bubble by launching it into the universe. Some turn to ESP, some to a belief in ghosts, some to the future caught inside a glass bottle, each character taking the hackneyed adage “Follow Your Bliss” too literally when they blissfully follow their own storyline. Emotionally charged, evocative, and lush, Hunger Moon’s thirteen short stories each set out on profound quests to satisfy an emotional hunger.

Traci Skuce graduated from the Pacific University low-residency MFA program in 2015. Her short stories and non-fiction have appeared in several publications across North America including Grain, New Ohio Review, The New Quarterly, and Prairie Fire, and have been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and two Journey prizes. For the past twenty years, Traci has lived in Cumberland, BC with her husband and two sons. Hunger Moon is a part of the Nunatak First Fiction Series and was released Spring 2020.

With the Emerging Writer Prize, Kobo endeavors to raise the profiles of debut authors by recognizing exceptional books written by first-time Canadian authors in three categories: Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, and Non-Fiction. The winning authors will be announced in June 2021 and awarded a $10,000 CAD cash prize, in addition to marketing and communications support throughout the remainder of 2021.