The Audlib Project

We asked five celebrated Canadian storytellers to explore home, as inspired by the creativity of their nominated work. They responded with an audio experience unlike any other, weaving together the lives and shared experiences of neighbours in an apartment building in Canada.

A single rose bush in a courtyard serves as the centerpiece for a sequence of stories of vastly different lives with unexpected connections. A young girl dares to test her limits of safety, a woman is pained by a tragic loss and the stigma she now carries because of it, and a neighbour wishes for connection and understanding in a deeply divided time. An expat yearns to be closer to her treasured family members, and a café owner grapples with the changes that gradually eat away at her in small but significant ways.

The five finalists of the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize were tasked with creating an original story linked through a shared environment: a building with windows overlooking a rose bush in a communal courtyard. Each author was asked to write a brief section of the story and then pass the work along to a fellow finalist, who would then complete their section and pass the story along again.

In celebration of the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists, Audible is illuminating the art of storytelling with a unique work, The Audlib Project. This Audible Original is an ad-lib collaborative short story, written collectively by all of the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists: Gil Adamson (Ridgerunner), David Bergen (Here the Dark), Shani Mootoo (Polar Vortex), Emily St. John Mandel (The Glass Hotel), and Souvankham Thammavongsa (How to Pronounce Knife).

The Giller Prize, founded by Jack Rabinovitch in 1994, highlights the very best in Canadian fiction year after year. In 2005, the prize teamed up with Scotiabank, who increased the winnings four-fold. Audible has been the exclusive audiobook sponsor since 2017 and is committed to supporting talented Canadian authors and creators.