The New Brunswick Writing Competition |
Runs January 1 to March 31 annually 
The program celebrates eight categories of unpublished writing in the genres of novel, short story, single poem, poetry manuscript, books for young people, and stories by teens, as well as unpublished short film script, and narrative non-fiction. You must be a New Brunswick resident to participate in our provincial competition, unless you are a WFNB member - members can participate from anywhere.
The New Brunswick Writing Competition began in 1985, the same year as the WFNB's date of incorporation. It’s been held annually ever since, awarding thousands of dollars in prizes over the decades. Many past winners have since achieved national and international publishing fame.
The New Brunswick Writing Competition is generously sponsored by:
Winners Announced for the 2024 NB Writing Competition!
May 14, 2024 – The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) has announced the winners of its annual New Brunswick Writing Competition. The winners will be celebrated at a literary soiree on Friday evening, May 31, at the Empress Theatre in Moncton, as part of WFNB’s annual WordSpring writing festival. The public is invited to attend the readings. The program celebrates eight categories of unpublished writing. There were a record number of submissions this year in almost every category, creating more difficult choices for the peer judges-who are chosen from outside of the province. They consistently reported that the submissions displayed a diverse spectrum of high-quality writing talent in the province. The finalists are as follows: The David Adams Richards Prize for fiction The judge said, "This was a great set of submissions, with many of them being very strong pieces that felt ready for submitting to a publisher, based on the excerpts provided. Choosing three top selections for first, second, and third prize was challenging, choosing among those top three was extremely difficult. All three winners, as well as the honourable mention, were engaging stories that held my attention and made me want to read to the end, and all were also technically excellent writing – clear, vivid, and original." First Place – Alison Taylor (Fredericton, NB) Confessions of a Binge Drinker Second Place – Thomas Chamberlain (Rothesay, NB) Happenstance Third Place – John McNeil (Fredericton, NB), Little Blue Dancers Honourable Mention – Jane Simpson (Belleisle Creek, NB), The Watering of the Girls Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize Judge: Willow Kean First Place – Heather Gunn (Moncton, NB), Very Best Second Place — Trent Pomeroy (Rothesay, NB), Jack Currie Third Place—Olivia Mazerolle (Moncton, NB), The Ducks The Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry Manuscript Judge: Susan Gillis First Prize: Grace Taylor (Fredericton, NB ) Wolf Peach Second Prize: Ed Lemond (New Richmond, Quebec), Unfinished Lines Third Prize: Shane Neilson (Cambridge Ontario), The Reign Honourable Mention: Jane Tims (Rusagonis), Wings of a Moth The Dawn Watson Memorial Prize for Single Poem Judge: Jeanette Lynes The judge said: "Thanks for the opportunity to read the entrants work! Nearly all the poems had some kind of ‘spark’ so it took awhile to think it all through." First Place: KC Clark (Saint Andrews, NB), A Crack in the Idyllic Second Place: Grace Taylor (Fredericton, NB) Time Moves Backwards for Herakles in the Dollhouse Third Place: Melanie Craig-Hansford (Hampton, NB), Expiration Honourable Mention: Jennifer McMullin (Fredericton, NB) Red Mug The WeyMedia Books for Young People Prize Judge: Lorna Schultz Nicholson The judge said, "This wasn't easy but I picked the winners! There were some amazing stories and I had a hard time choosing." First place--Cheryl Thomas (Lower Coverdale, NB), Marven Morton’s Marvellous Notions Second place--Mary Mesheau (Fredericton, NB), A Bridge to the Past Third place--Kelly Alcorn (Rollingdam, NB), Dirt Angels Honourable Mention--Gail Collette (Miramichi, NB), Call Me Captain Molly Kool Honourable Mention, Jennifer Houle (Hanwell, NB),The Wishing Broom
Judge: Jay McGrath The judge said, "Never been as humbled as I am reading these entries as a judge. A lot of the process was me going ‘Wow, wish I was clever enough to think of something like that.’ First Place—Yutong (Teresa) Wu (Moncton, NB), Sunken Ship of Theseus Second Place—Alison O’Reilly (Quispamsis, NB), Nameless Third Place—Madeline Bowie (Fredericton, NB), Where I’m From Honourable Mention—Sarah Hackett (Moncton, NB), The Wolf Cries Honourable Mention – Ziwen Wang (Moncton, NB) Wait for Me to Come Home Honourable Mention– Eliza Johnson (not stated) Lost Echoes Honourable Mention – Quinn Ryan (Johnville, NB) Centerstage Honourable Mention—Ibtihaaj Enitan-Adelakun, (Moncton, NB), Melting Horizons Honourable Mention—Lilyana Page (canadalily.com),Goldilocks and the Wolf Honourable Mention—Sarah Harfoush (not stated)Mind of Walls The Narrative Non-Fiction Prize Judge: Shelly Kawaja The judge said, "We received some fabulous submissions for the narrative non-fiction prize! It was an honour to read these stories, and a struggle to choose, however, the winning entries are clear." First place: Allison Billings (Rothesay, NB), The Massive Continuity of Ducks Second place: Trent Pomeroy (Rothesay, NB), Rabbits Third place: Eve Allen (Moncton, NB), Friends Without Names Honourable Mention: Brent Mazerolle (Moncton, NB), The Storm with No Name The Jane LeBlanc Screenwriting Award Judge: Carlos Anthony First Place: Tammy Boyer (Saint John, NB), The Bench Second Place—Alison Taylor (Fredericton, NB) Sleepers Third Place—Louis Anthony Bryan (unknown), Vertices The WFNB congratulates all the winners, and all who submitted to the competition. The New Brunswick Writing Competition began in 1985, the same year as the WFNB's date of incorporation. We’ve held it annually ever since, awarding hundreds of prizes over the decades. Many past winners have since achieved national and international publishing fame. It opens every year on January 1. -30- |
For immediate release
The Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen WritersHow to Submit
| Submission Categories
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Guidelines
Entries will not be considered until both the manuscript and payment have been received.- The entry fee will not be refunded if your submission is ineligible.
- All submissions are final
- Entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
WHEN: The 2024 season will run from January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024
WHO:
- Open to New Brunswick residents, and all WFNB members, including those living outside the province of NB.
- WFNB members pay a reduced entry fee.
- WFNB directors and executive are not eligible.
WHAT:
- All entries must be original, unpublished works.
- Entries must not have been accepted for publication, or previously published in magazines, online magazines, blogs, other online publications, or in self-published works.
- For detailed guidelines, see the specific category under "Submission Categories" above
HOW:
- Review the submission category guidelines before submitting
- Prepare your submission - word counts are strict!
- Wait for the competition to open on January 1
- Go to the WFNB Writing Competition page (this one!)
- Select your category
- Click the "Add to Cart" button
- Complete the checkout process
- Send your submission and cover letter to info@wfnb.ca
WINNERS:
- We notify all winners in early May.
- All winners will be invited to read from their submission at the Literary Soirée during WordSpring, where the prizes will be awarded.
- Judges will provide brief comments for the first-, second-, and third-place winner.
NOTES:
- Submit as many texts as you wish in one or all categories.
- Each text may be submitted to only one category.
- You must complete a separate entry and pay the entry fee for each manuscript entered.
- Judging is blind. Prizes will be awarded (or not) at the discretion of the judges.
"Writers' Federation of New Brunswick" is a registered non-profit organization. New Brunswick, Canada.
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© 2021 Writers' Federation of New Brunswick