2026 NB Writing Competition

May 29, 2026
Crowne Plaza
Harbourview, Saint John

6:00 to 6:45 pm

Reception:
Cash Bar & nibbles

Music
Brent Mason

6:45 pm

Welcome by President Don Bourque

7:00 to 9:00 pm

Award Readings
Hosted by Susan White & Martha Vowles

Winners of the 2026 New Brunswick Writing Competition

1. The Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers

Judge: Aren Morris

First: Mia Yang (Quispamsis), The Scent That Sticks
Second: Sophie Arsenau (Carlow), The Café
Third: Devangana Sharma (Fredericton), Between Red and Green

Honourable Mention: Madeleine Gershon (Saint John) The Girl in the Mirror

2. Money Genius Books for Young People Prize

Judge: Brian Henry

First : Katherine Adlam (Peterborough, ON), The Blue Jogging Suit
Second : Christina Foster (Fredericton), Annie Dobbler, Animal Cobbler
Third : Wendy Kitts (Shediac), Mortimer Murphy and the Best Science Project Ever

Honourable Mention: Christina Foster, Fredericton, The Wrong Book

3. The JL Screenwriting Award

Judge: John Mundle

First : Patric Dow (Fredericton), 143
Second : Jordan Greer (Fredericton), Bluebelly
Third : Evan Cook (Moncton) Vincent

4. Gwen L. Martin Memorial Prize for Nonfiction

Judge: Bill Arnott

First : Cheyenne Kean-Lemery (Sackville), In Perpetuity
Second : Ruth MacLean (Riverview), Table for Two
Third: Jocelyn Fraser (Riverview), Blue Sky, Yellow Tape, Red Lights and the Green Pine

Honourable Mentions:

Ruth MacLean (Riverview), Memory Slippers
Elijah Marr (Sackville), The Boy Likes Girls
Chelsea Stevens (Dumfries), The Anatomy of a Girl

5. Dawn Watson Memorial Prize for Single Poem

Judge: Sharon Berg

First : Ramneet Kalra (Fredericton), Across the Years, Across the Oceans
Second : Stephen Roney (Saint John), A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Third : K. Jordan MacKenzie (Moncton), Left Behind

Honourable Mentions:

Kathleen MacDonald (Saint John), ebb_a pantoum; David White (Gatineau, PQ), Fireflies;
Tyler Hache (Moncton), In the Line of Fire; Bryn Harris (Grand Manan), Reach;
Susan Dean (Alma), The Things you Learn, Living in a War Zone

6. The Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Fiction Manuscript

Judge: Neil Aitken

First : Shane Neilson (Cambridge, ON) Heraclitus Come Freshets
Second: Scott Stephens (Shediac), You Only Live Now
Third: Steph Percival (Fredericton), My Heart in Pieces

7. The Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize for Short Fiction

Judge: Rona Altrows

First: Ruth MacLean (Riverview), Wash Day
Second: Julia Wright (Saint John), Causeway Gold
Third: Ruth MacLean (Riverview), First Day

8. David Adams Richards Prize for Fiction Manuscript

Judge: Don Aker

First: Trent Pomeroy (Rothesay), Education of a Rabbit Thief
Second: Kelly Alcorn (Rollingdam), Good Thing
Third: Angela Joynes (Columbia, Tennessee) Pennies to Jump the Rails

Honourable Mentions:

Jennifer Houle (Hanwell), Night of the Lobsters
Peter Hicks (Fredericton), For One Thing
Zev Bagel, Shediac (The Exogens)

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Please take a photo at our photo booth! #nbwritingcompetition2026 #writersfednb

WFNB gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the New Brunswick Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, and the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development #artscultureNB