Just in time for Spring, our annual Writing Contest Listing is back!
What inspires your sense of the world? What’s your penchant for endings? Whatever your approach to the craft–and whether fiction, poetry, memoir –you’ll find plenty of outlets for your stories in Canadian magazines. Be inspired to create your next work of poetry, fiction or personal essay. Take the opportunity to finish your latest literary creation and submit it to a Canadian magazine writing contest.
All contests and awards listed below accept previously unpublished works of Canadian poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction. If you know of one that we missed, please let us know or Tweet at us @MagAwards. And check out our Canadian Literary Magazine Guide for other ideas for where to submit your work.
And for more inspiration, check out the National Magazine Awards Archive, with hundreds of winning and nominated stories and poems to read.
Grain Magazine
Short Grain Contest
Deadline: April 5, 2019
Prize: $1000 (1st); $750 (2nd); $500 (3rd); publication
Entry Fee: $40 for up to two entries; includes registration + subscription
Contemporary Verse 2
CV2 2-Day Poem Contest
Deadline: April 12, 2019
Prize: $500 (1st); $300 (2nd); $150 (3rd); publication
Entry Fee: $26; includes registration + subscription (registration only is $16)
Vallum
The Vallum Chapbook Award 2019
Deadline: April 30, 2019
1st Prize: Publication + $300
Entry fees: $25 CDN for Canadian entrants
Pulp Literature Magazine Contests:
The Magpie Award for Poetry
Deadline: 15 April 2019
Winner notified: 15 May 2019
Winners published in: Issue 24, Autumn 2019
First Prize: $500 and a 1-year subscription to Duotrope ($50 value).
The Hummingbird Flash Fiction Prize
Open: 1 May-June 15, 2019
Winner notified: 15 July 2019
Winner published in: Issue 25, Winter 2020
Prize: $300
Entry fee: $15
This contest is for previously unpublished works of fiction up to 1000 words in length.
The Malahat Review
The Malahat Review Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction
Genre: Fiction (max 3500 words)
Deadline: May 1, 2019
Prize: $1,000; publication
Entry Fee: $25 (additional entries are $15); includes subscription
Dreamers Creative Writing
Haiku Contest 2019
Deadline: May 13, 2019
Entry Fee: $10 (includes an electronic copy of Dreamers Magazine Issue 1)
Prize: $120 to the first place winner
The winner will receive $120 CAD ($100 prize + $20 honorarium), 2 copies of our magazine (1 print, 1 electronic), and 2 special Dreamers keychains on which the winning poem will be printed.
Submit up to 3 Haiku per entry; enter as many times as you want.
SubTerrain
17th Annual Lush Triumphant Literary Awards
Deadline: May 15, 2019
Fiction: Maximum 3,000 words
Poetry: A suite of 5 related poems (maximum 15 pages)
Creative Non-Fiction: (Based on fact, adorned w/fiction) maximum 4,000 words
Prize: $1000
Entry Fee: $30
The Canadian Stories
11th Contest for Short Stories, Poetry, and Black & White Line Art.
Deadline: May 15, 2019
True Stories $350
Creative Non-Fiction $350
Fiction $350
Poetry $200
Lest We Forget $350
Black & White Line Art $350
First Honourable Mention $100
Second Honourable Mention $50
Notification approximately August 1, 2019.
Entry Fee: $20
Creative Non-Fiction | Open April 1 – June
First Prize: $500 + publication in Room
Second Prize: $250 + publication in Room
Honourable Mention: $50 publication on Room‘s website
Entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with issue 42.3 (September 2019).
Poetry| Open June 15 – August 15
First Prize: $1,000 + publication in Room
Second Prize: $250 + publication in Room
Honourable Mention: $50 publication on Room’swebsite
Entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with issue 42.4 (December 2019).
Short Forms | September 1 – November 1
First Prize: $500 + publication (2 prizes)
Honourable Mention: $50 publication on Room’swebsite
Cover Art| November 15 – January 15
First Prize: $500 + publication on the cover of Room 42.2
Second Prize: $50 + publication in Room 42.2
Honourable Mention: publication on Room’swebsite
Prism International Contests:
The Grouse Grind Lit Prize for V. Short Forms
Deadline: May 15, 2019
$500 Grand Prize, $150 runner-up, $50 2nd runner-up
Entry fee: $15 for all entries. Option to pay an additional fee to include a subscription (or an extension of an existing subscription) with your contest entry.
Max. word count: 300 words.
Creative Non-Fiction Contest
Open: May 2019 – July 31, 2019
Grand Prize: $1,500
Second Prize: $600 runner-up
2nd runner-up: $400
Entry fee: $35 Canadian entries (includes a one-year subscription or extension)
Additional entry: $5 per piece
Max. word count: 6,000
Annual Earle Birney Prize for Poetry
An annual prize of $500 awarded by the outgoing Poetry Editor to an outstanding poetry contributor published in PRISM international.
Enter by regular submission only: no fee required.
The New Quarterly
The Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award
Deadline: May 28, 2019
One top prize including $1000 and a one-year Duotrope Gift Certificate (a USD $50 value) will be awarded for one work of short fiction (no word limit).
Entry fee: $40 per piece (includes a 1-year Canadian subscription or renewal to The New Quarterly).
CBC Canada Writes Poetry Prize
Contest Opens: April 1, 2019
Deadline: May 31, 2019
Prize: The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and will have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Their winning submission will be published on CBC Books. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their poetry published on CBC Books.
Entry Fee: $25
Eden Mills Writers Festival Read at the Fringe
Deadline: May 31, 2019
Contest Categories:
Prose: 2500 words maximum, double-spaced
Poetry: Up to five poems, five pages maximum, single-spaced
Prizes: Winners selected in each category will be invited to read at the EMWF on Festival Sunday (September 8, 2019), and will be treated to all the perks of attending the festival as an author, including access to the author hospitality suite, and an invitation to the festival’s gala dinner for authors.
Entry Fee: $15
Eden Mills Writers Festival Literary Contest
Deadline: May 31, 2019
Contest Categories:
Short Story: 2500 words maximum
Poetry: A poem or collection, no more than five poems
Creative Non-Fiction: 2500 words maximum
Prizes: The best entry in each category will win a $250 prize. Winning entries will be published on the EMWF website and the names of the winners will be included in the festival weekend program.
Entry Free: $15
The Fiddlehead
Creative Nonfiction Contest
Deadline: June 3, 2019
Prize: $2000
Entry Fee: The fee for first entry is $30. Additional entries after that first contest entry (to either contest category) are $10.
Prairie Fire
Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award, Short Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Contests
Deadline: November 30, 2019
1st prize $1,250
2nd prize $500
3rd prize $250
Entry Fee: $32
The Surrey International Writer’s Conference
The Surrey International Writer’s Conference (SIWC) Writing Contest
Deadline: September 21, 2019
First prize: $1000 plus publication
Honourable Mention: $150 plus publication
Cost: $15/entry
Soul
Disabled writers in Canada (including but not limited those who are physically/invisibly disabled, d/Deaf, blind, neurodivergent, chronically ill or suffering from mental health issues)
Monthly Literary Prize dedicated to underrepresented writers in Canada.
Genres: Poetry/Prose/Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction
There are no themes. There is no minimum or maximum word count. There is no submission fee. Only non-published work (print or online).
One submission per month, & you are eligible to win the top prize once every twelve months. You are eligible for a maximum of two prizes every twelve months.
Awards:
$1000 for the top prize.
$300 for the second prize.
$150 for the third prize.
All winning pieces will be published online at http://shootforthemoon.art
Spark
QT2S / BIPOC (Queer / Trans, 2 Spirit and/or Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) Monthly Literary Prize dedicated to underrepresented writers in Canada.
Genres: Poetry/Prose/Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction
There are no themes. There is no minimum or maximum word count. There is no submission fee. Only non-published work (print or online).
One submission per month, & you are eligible to win the top prize once every twelve months. You are eligible for a maximum of two prizes every twelve months.
Awards:
$1000 for the top prize.
$300 for the second prize.
$150 for the third prize.
All winning pieces will be published online at http://shootforthemoon.art
Did we miss one? Send us a note or grab us on Twitter @MagAwards. We’ll update this post throughout the spring and summer as more contests are announced.