Montreal writer Julie Bouchard has been named a regional winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Bouchard is the first regional winner from Canada in more than a decade. She was named the regional winner for Canada and Europe for her story “What Burns,” translated from French by Arielle Aaronson. Bouchard, who works in academic publishing, won the Radio-Canada short story prize in 2020 and 2021, and has released two collections of short stories and a novel over the last 10 years with Quebec press La Pleine Lune.

Author Shashi Bhat, the judge for Canada and Europe, called the story “a profoundly intelligent, fiercely original piece that takes three disparate incidents—wildfire, arson, cremation—and connects them through the central image of burning. … It is purposeful, deft, and utterly surprising – the kind of story people read and wish they had written themselves.”

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation, and offers a £2,500 ($4,356 CAD) prize for the five regional winners and a £5,000 ($8,712 CAD) prize for the overall winner. The overall winner will be announced on June 26.