Competitions

The CBC nonfiction prize

Open between Jan. 1 and March 1. You can submit original, unpublished nonfiction that is up to 2,000 words. There is no minimum word requirement. Nonfiction includes memoir, biography, humour writing, essay (including personal essay), travel writing and feature articles.

CBC offers 3 prizes for original, unpublished work: the CBC Short Story Prize, the CBC Nonfiction Prize and the CBC Poetry Prize. The winner of each receives $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre and the five finalists have their work published on CBC Books.

The Writers' Union of Canada invites submissions to its 31st annual Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers. Unpublished works of fiction and nonfiction up to 2,500 words in English are eligible, and writers may submit multiple entries. A $2,500 prize will be awarded to the winner. The Union is proud to announce an esteemed group of jurors for this year's Competition: Francine Cunningham, Frances Itani, C.M., and Ian Roy.  Emerging writers, get writing! The deadline for submissions is February 19, 2024. Learn more here.

Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition

THE DAVE IS BACK!! The Manitoba Writers’ Guild is thrilled to announce the Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition has returned for its second year - with cash prizes worth $2000, complimentary membership for winners, and guaranteed publication for winners and honorary mentions.

Follow this link to the complete guidelines posted on the website and begin to capture those thoughts tantalizing your mind and shape them into a story. If you have any questions, please contact us at MWGcontesto@gmail.com (the 'o' in contesto is the letter 'o' not the number zero).

The Inaugural Dave Williamson Short Story Competition was listed as one of Reedsy's best writing contests of 2023.

Announcing the inaugural Claire Harris Poetry Prize

Attention emerging poets from Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities. Icehouse Poetry has announced their inaugural Claire Harris Poetry Prize!

The prize will be awarded to a full-length debut poetry collection and will include $1000 of prize money, a contract for the publication of the collection under the icehouse poetry imprint in the following year (2025), and public readings in at least three Canadian cities.

Submissions will be accepted between January 2 and March 31, 2024.

Call for Entries: 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Calling all indie book authors and publishers - including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors who have a book written in English released in 2022, 2023 or 2024 or with a 2022, 2023 or 2024 copyright date to enter the most rewarding book awards program.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards offers more than 80 awards – more than 80 monetary prizes totaling over $10,000 in cash, including $1,500 cash prizes plus trophies for best fiction book and best non-fiction book, $750 cash prizes plus trophies for second best fiction book and non-fiction book and $500 cash prizes plus trophies for third best fiction book and non-fiction book!

"Independently-published books have become a major source for quality fiction and non-fiction, but often go unrecognized by the mainstream publishing industry," notes Marilyn Allen. "Finally, an awards program has been created to recognize talented authors from this important segment of our industry. I have been a part of representing over 100 authors, and always looking for new talent, so it is a great pleasure to be part of this program. We look forward to reviewing the works of the 80 best candidates and helping these authors gain the recognition they deserve."

Entry deadline for the 2024 awards program – February 14, 2024. https://www.indiebookawards.com/

Seventh Annual Pottersfield Prize for Creative Nonfiction

For the seventh annual prize, Pottersfield Press is again looking for submissions from writers who can provide a manuscript of 30,000 to 150,000 words in any of the following categories: history, memoir, autobiography, biography, literary journalism, political or social commentary, travel writing or virtually any existing or new category that uses the nonfiction medium to tell a story or put forward an idea. The First Prize winner will receive a contract for the publication of the winning book along with a $1000 advance on 10% royalty for all sales. The Second Prize winner will also see the publication of the book and a $800 advance on 10% royalties. Deadline is April 30, 2024 but early submissions are encouraged. Submit your manuscript electronically as a double-spaced basic Word document to: pottersfieldcreative@gmail.comand include on the title page your name, address and email address. Entry fee is $25 (includes HST) and can be paid by Interac Transfer (also to pottersfieldcreative@gmail.com), Paypal or by cheque made out to Pottersfield Press mailed to 248 Leslie Road, East Lawrencetown, NS B2Z 1T4 Canada after the manuscript has been submitted by email. www.pottersfieldpress.comWinners will be announced on June 30, 2024.

The winners of the Sixth Annual Pottersfield Prize for Creative Nonfiction are Martin Bauman in first place for Hell of a Ride and Chris Harvey-Clark in second place for In Search of The Great Canadian Shark. Bauman’s top winning entry is a coming-of-age tale of a 7,000-kilometre solo bicycle voyage across Canada. The second-place winner is a first-hand account of diving research adventures with sharks and other exotic undersea creatures in Canadian waters. Both books will be published by Pottersfield Press in 2024.

The Paul Cave Prize for Children's Literature

From November 30 submissions to The Paul Cave Prize for Children's Literature will open to writers and poets from around the world.

"Writing an engaging children's story that grips the reader is difficult," says one of the judges, Tim Saunders.

"It's a great opportunity for budding writers especially when getting noticed by a publisher is one of life's great challenges."

Entries close February 28, 2024.

There are three categories:

1. Best short story - 5,000 words or under
   
2. Best flash fiction - 300 words or under
   
3. Best poem - 30 lines or under
   

Winners will receive a cash prize and a copy of the book. More information here.

Call for Submissions

Announcing Lost in the Fog

Partridge Island Publishing’s 2024 anthologyDeadline is January 31, 2024

• up to 2 entries per person.
  
• Maximum word length 3,000 words.
  
• We accept poetry and prose.
  
• Must contain the [flexible] theme 'lost'.
  

Email questions or submissions to amanda@partridgeislandpublishing.ca

The Fiddlehead Poetry Submissions are open!

Canadian writers and poets, The Fiddlehead's submissions are currently open to you! Send us your best poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction by March 31. Learn more here.

Palimpsest Press

Submissions will be open from February 1 - March 31, 2024. They are currently looking for literary fiction by BIPOC, DEAF, and DISABLED authors. Poetry collections should be between 70 and 100 pages. Nonfiction and fiction have no page requirement. They are not accepting short fiction. They do not publish historical fiction. Although you do not need to be published in book form, you must have been published substantially in literary journals. If you are sending poetry or non-fiction, please query jim@palimpsestpress.ca with a sample first. If you are sending fiction, please query aimee@palimpsestpress.ca with a brief description of the work and short sample (No more than 4 pages). Include a cover letter and a list of publications for all genres. More info here.

GEIST: Nonfiction and Comics

GEIST has extended their deadline for nonfiction and comics to January 15, (which is Monday – got something in your back pocket?) -- open for short non-fiction (800-1500 words), longer non-fiction (up to 5000 words), and comics submissions. Please read Submission Guidelines before submitting: geist.com/writers/submit

Prairie Fire is giving centre stage to women writers fifty and over!

This special issue is a celebration that honours and recognizes the enormous contribution of living Canadian women writers, who have helped shape CanLit and continue to do so. Deadline: February 15. https://www.prairiefire.ca/call-for-submissions-50-over-50

If you are a woman, aged fifty and over, have at least one published piece of writing (literary journals, non-literary journals, writing group publications, anthologies, books, etc… we’re really not picky on this point.) and live in Canada (or lived a substantial amount of your life in Canada) then we want to see your unpublished work, as we compile this mosaic of new writing to be released in fall of 2024. 

This special issue, tentatively called “50 Over 50” will be guest edited by Katherine Bitney, poet and one of the founders of Prairie Fire Press.

Awards

Call for Submissions Issued for the 27th Annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award

The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Gleed family are pleased to announce the jury for the $10,000 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, Canada’s pre-eminent award for the best first Canadian collection of short fiction in the English language, now celebrating its 27th year.

This year’s jury comprises authors Danila Botha, paulo da costa, and Souvankham Thammavongsa.

A short list will be announced in May 2024, with the winner and two finalists being named in June 2024. The winner receives $10,000 and each of the two finalists is awarded $1,000.

To be eligible, books must be first collections of short fiction written by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and published in Canada in the English language in the 2023 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2024. Eligible titles may be submitted by publishers according to submission guidelines available at writersunion.ca/danuta-gleed-literary-award.

Publishers and Literary Markets

Assembly Press will publish a balanced mix of voice-driven and concept-driven fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We want our books to be notable for engaging with contemporary issues with thoughtfulness, incisiveness, and passion in equal measure.  We welcome submissions by all writers regardless of publication history or writing experience, and especially by equity-seeking writers marginalized by attitudinal, historic, social, and environmental barriers based on age, ethnicity, disability, economic status, gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation, and transgender status.  

We are committed to driving change in the publishing industry, and one way we can do so is to prioritize submissions written by equity-seeking writers. To serve this priority, we will push proposals and manuscripts of all genres by these authors to the front of our reading queue.
Atmosphere Press is a collaborative publisher, currently seeking great manuscripts from diverse (feminist!) voices. This year Atmosphere authors have sold thousands of books across five continents, received featured reviews with Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have even appeared on a giant billboard in Times Square. And they’d love to see what you’ve written!

Authors Get Published is an online boutique publishing house located in Toronto, Ontario. They are a full-service publishing house that publishes first-time and seasoned authors on their journey to become published authors, by providing book cover creation, manuscript editing services, formatting, and more. Distributed through Ingram, Authors Get Published work to ensure that each author’s book or books receive maximum visibility online through their website and online platforms where books are sold. If you would like to submit your manuscript for consideration, please email the Editor-in-Chief Christine at Christine@AuthorsGetPublished.com. They reply to every submission within 2 weeks. Visit the website for complete manuscript submission details.

VS. Books was founded by artist Vivek Shraya to create more intergenerational dialogue and support for artists of colour. Each year, Vivek offers a mentorship opportunity and publishing contract for a writer who is Indigenous, Black, or a person of colour. This year VS. Books’ is seeking an unpublished Indigenous writer, Black writer, or a writer of colour, over the age of 50 living in Canada.

Indian Ink Publishing is currently seeking completed literary fiction, trade fiction, and creative non-fiction manuscripts by emerging and established writers. Indian Ink Publishing is focused on bringing diverse narratives in to the homes of our readers. We believe that a rich story lives in every writer and consider it our number one priority to nurture that story from page to press. Storytelling is our passion. We aim to amplify underrepresented voices and capture unique experiences in the fiction and non-fiction books we publish. We are excited by prose that is compelling and innovative, bold and nuanced, that has the ability to transport the reader beyond their own imagination. We aim to publish work that reflects the diversity in Canada's cultural fabric and encourage writers who identify as women, Indigenous, persons of colour, LGBTQ+, and persons with disabilities to submit.

The CBC has an extensive list of Canadian Literary Journals for submissions to literary magazines here and Canadian Publishing Houses here.
Quick Brown Fox regularly updates its list of writing markets for poems, short stories and novels. The site is maintained by writing workshop instructor and author Brian Henry and is an invaluable resource for new and seasoned writers.  

Grants, Residencies, and Laureateships 

Access Copyright Foundation Marian Hebb Research Grants.

Deadline: February 15, 2024

Access Copyright Foundation has begun to accept applications for its next round of funding for Marian Hebb Research Grants.

The Foundation’s Marian Hebb Research Grants program.

The Foundation’s Marian Hebb Research Grants program supports—both virtually and in-person—inquiry, information gathering and exploration by individuals and organizations relevant to Canadian publishing, writing and visual arts, and toward the realization of a publishable work in progress.

If this sounds like work you are currently undertaking, we heartily encourage you to consider applying for a Marian Hebb Research Grant.

Applications will be accepted until February 15, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. CST.

To apply for a grant, please visit the SK Arts Portal. The Foundation’s grants program is administered by SK Arts.

Learn more about the Foundation’s Marian Hebb Research Grants program by visiting the Foundation's website or download its Application Guidelines (please refer to pages 14-19).

Provincial Grants

Artsnb administers eight grant programs. Deadlines vary throughout the year. You can submit your grant applications online. In addition, ArtsNB:

• offers Accessibility and Equity programs which provide additional financial support to NB artists who face barriers when applying for grants or in carrying out their proposed activities.
• The Application Assistance program, provides funding to individuals who encounter disability-related barriers to completing an online grant application; and to Indigenous artists facing language, geographic and/or cultural barriers with the online application process.
• The Access Support program is designed to provide supplemental funding to grant recipients who require disability-related assistance to carry out their proposed activities. For more information: info@artsnb.ca or 506-444-4445

Federal Grants

• Canada Council for the Arts: New and Early Career Artists: The Canada Council for the Arts is making it easier for artists to apply for their first grant—they’ve launched a profile for new and early career artists. It’s part of a two-year pilot project to reach the next wave of artists in Canada and renew support to the arts sector. Artists at the start of their careers—including those who are new to Canada—can apply for Canada Council funding.

An artist with a new and early career artist profile is eligible to apply for grants from three Explore and Create components:

• Professional Development for Artists—Project grants to support career advancement activities for artists and artistic groups—including mentorships, internships, apprenticeships, specialized training and workshops.
• Research and Creation—Project grants to support creative research, development and the creation of new works, including residencies.
• Concept to Realization—Project grants to support activities that will result in completed works that are shown to the public—including public presentations, exhibitions, media arts and digital arts production ready for dissemination.

To be eligible as a New/Early Career Artist, you must:

• have no other approved applicant profiles with the Canada Council
• have not previously received a grant from the Canada Council
• be at least 18 years old
• be either a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada
• have some training, experience or accomplishments in one or more of the Council’s recognized fields of practice. Past training could include mentorship, self-study, workshops, etc. Training in an academic institution is not mandatory. The Council recognizes training, experience or accomplishments that took place outside of Canada.  
• be committed to the ongoing development of your skills and artistic practice

Create an account on the portal, and then submit a new and early career artist profile. You can only have one of these profiles. Create it and apply with your main field of practice—you can still apply for grants with other fields of practice later on. Make sure your CV matches with the eligibility criteria listed above. We recommend you get started with your profile well ahead of the competition you’re working towards because your profile will need to be validated before you can apply for a grant.