Literary Soiree - Event Schedule

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)

--

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


What else is New at the WFNB?

Recent News

Upcoming Events

Territorial Acknowledgement

The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick acknowledges that the land on which we live, work and gather is the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples, and we honour the spirit of our ancestors’ Treaties of Peace and Friendship. 

"Writers' Federation of New Brunswick" is a registered non-profit organization. New Brunswick, Canada. 


© 2021 Writers' Federation of New Brunswick

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software