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Literary Prizes

The Troll Artist by Pam Barnsley

The Comox, B.C., writer is on the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize longlist

The Comox, B.C., writer is on the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize longlist

CBC Books ·
A headshot photo of a woman with short white hair smiling.
Pam Barnsley is a writer living in Comox, B.C. (Submitted by Pam Barnsley)

Pam Barnsley has made the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for The Troll Artist. 

The winner of the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and their work will be published on CBC Books. The four remaining finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The shortlist will be announced on April 10, and the winner will be announced on April 17. 

If you're interested in other CBC Literary Prizes, the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is currently accepting submissions. You can submit an original, unpublished poem or collection of poems from April 1-June 1.

The 2026 CBC Short Story Prize will open in September and the 2026 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January. 

About Pam Barnsley

Pam Barnsley is a former newspaper journalist and snowboard instructor whose short stories have appeared in magazines, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and several anthologies. Her novel, The River Cage, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Best Unpublished Novel, and her poems have twice won the Whistler Poets Pause Competition. Harbour Publishing published her co-authored non-fiction book Hiking Trails of the Sunshine Coast. Barnsley has nine novels in various stages of deconstruction, and yes, she knows how appalling that sounds.

Entry in five-ish words

"An online troll, a betrayal."

The short story's source of inspiration

"I wanted to set an intimate story of betrayal against the backdrop of war — the online disinformation war. I'm in my 70s and the most existential threat I've seen in my lifetime is the proliferation of international bot armies and influencer-trolls, along with gullible citizens reposting inflammatory falsehoods. I hope my dark humour reveals the entitled troll in the heart of us all."

First lines

I work at a troll farm that takes up the top four floors of an office building in Kitsilano, close to my laneway suite, my favourite taphouse, and the university where, let's face it, I've failed my way onto probation with my thesis supervisor. But I have a plan.

After work on Thursday, I talk Moss into coming to the pub across the street from our offices. Locally distilled botanical-infused gin for me, orange juice for him.

Check out the rest of the longlist

The longlist was selected from more than 2,300 entries. A team of 12 writers and editors from across Canada compiled the list. 

The jury selects the shortlist and the eventual winner from the readers' longlisted selections. This year's jury is composed of Conor Kerr, Kudakwashe Rutendo and Michael Christie. 

The complete list is: 

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