Suddenly Light (Invisible Publishing)

Nina Dunic is a two-time winner of the Toronto Star Short Story Contest, has been longlisted by the CBC Short Story Prize four times, and was nominated for The Journey Prize. CBC Books named Dunic in its 2023 Writers to Watch list. She is the author of Suddenly Light, longlisted for the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel The Clarion won the 2024 Trillium Book Award, was longlisted for the 2023 Giller Prize, was selected as the Best Canadian Debut of 2023 by Apple Books, and was a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2023. Nina lives in Scarborough, ON. Find out more at ninadunic.com.

Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic

Fifteen stories replete with an intimate, nuanced, and quietly profound realism by the Trillium Book Award–winning author of The Clarion. With crisp and penetrating prose, the stories in Suddenly Light are bracing, buoyant, and test the delicate threads that tie us together.

“Dunic’s characters are all different sorts, at all different stages of life, dealing with tragedies, indignities, and other wild cards that cause them to lose their footing. […] all the pieces are beautifully etched thanks to Dunic’s flair for the power-packed chiseled sentence. […] These stories give literary realism a good name.”—Kirkus Reviews 

“Dunic introduces us to some truly remarkable characters in this thoughtful collection of short stories showing how awkward and tenuous real human connection can be. […] Dunic’s stories are neatly constructed, subtle but capable of delivering an out-of-nowhere emotional punch that has the ring of truth. It’s a book full of pleasant surprises and uncomfortable revelations.”— Apple Books