The 2023 Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest Longlist

From the Editor’s Desk

After thorough consideration, The New Quarterly is pleased to announce the longlisted submissions to the 2023 Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest. The longlisted writers and their essays are as follows:

The 2023 Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest Longlist


  • “Black Hammers Falling”
  • by Christopher Banks

  • “Every Possible Way”
  • by Adèle Barclay

  • “Staying Power”
  • by Gayle Belsher

  • “Threads Rumbling Softly”
  • by Christine Bissonnette

  • “Jailed in a Flawed System”
  • by Virginia Boudreau

  • “Release”
  • by Emily Cann

  • “Vigil for the Vigilant”
  • by Adrienne Gruber
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  • “Not Nothing, but Everything”
  • by Monica Kidd

  • “Cantonese Lessons for a Foreign Daughter-in-Law”
  • by Danica Longair

  • “The Words of Strangers”
  • by Judith MacKay

  • “A Trail of Depression”
  • by Karen Moore

Thank you to all of the writers who submitted their essays to this year’s contest. Stay tuned for our winner announcement!