The Journey Prize Shortlist
As you can imagine, things have been buzzing lately here at the headquarters of Team Tyler. Normally our office life is similar to the secretary's in the first half of Ghostbusters, before they get any clients: quiet, mellow, and not particularly exciting. That began to change when Tyler's story 'Sealskin' was nominated for the Journey Prize last month. We saw a spike in web searches and site traffic and - oddly enough - we even sold a few more charity T-shirts. Then came the news that the story had made the Journey Prize shortlist, making Tyler one of three finalists. Now we at his publicity team are really earning our keep: screening calls, fielding inquiries, booking Tyler's travel arrangements for his trip to the awards ceremony in Toronto. Plus we had to buy him clothes. Tyler is a terrible dresser. But Jim - Jim is our fashion advisor - dealt with it. Jim took Tyler shopping. Jim feels Tyler should be ready, come next week, to attend the ceremony on November 4th, when the overall winner will be announced. As for Tyler, he seems calm and fairly philosophical about the whole thing. He is grateful for the nomination, and the recognition. He is looking forward to meeting the other authors, particularly Miriam Toews, who he has collaborated with in an e-conversation for the National Post. But is he hopeful, or anxious? We asked him that. We were curious ourselves. He said he's just happy to be in contention, and among such esteemed company. The rest - as editor and poet Kathryn Gray once told him - is just gravy.