Five writers have been selected for the Writers’ Trust’s annual Rising Star program. Five established Canadian writers each chose a writer to mentor. The participants will also receive a series of career development and networking events, a two-week residency at the Banff Centre, and $5,000. The Rising Stars were announced in a live stream by selector Rachel Giese.

The 2020 Rising Stars are:

Carleigh Baker (selected by Thomas King)
The Vancouver writer’s 2017 debut short-story collection Bad Endings was a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

Lorax B. Horne (selected by Rachel Giese)

The editor-in-chief of Distributed Denial of Secrets, a publishing collective aimed at enabling the free transmission of data in the public interest, is developing the memoir  Hacks and Hackers, about the intersection of technology and people.

Canisia Lubrin (selected by Anosh Irani)

The Whitby, Ontario, poet’s second collection, The Dyzgraphxst, received a starred review in Q&Q when it was released earlier this year.

Troy Sebastian/Nupqu ʔa·kǂ am̓ (selected by Lynn Coady)

The author’s short story “Tax-Niʔ-Pik̓ak (A Long Time Ago),” was longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize as well as the Journey Prize, and published in Best Canadian Stories 2019.

Laura Trethewey (selected by Rosemary Sullivan)

The environmental reporter’s non-fiction collection of essays The Imperilled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea was published in February and her essay about her journey to environmental activism was published in the March issue of Q&Q.