Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize

Short Fiction

    • Single story
    • 2,000 to 4,000 words
    • Prose only, please. Narrative poems are not admissible
    • First Prize $250, Second Prize $150, Third Prize 1 year WFNB membership

    The 2022-23 Judge: Marianne Ward

    Marianne Ward (marianneward.ca) is a freelance book editor who, since 2007, has worked on hundreds of manuscripts for authors and publishers across Canada. She does all stages of editing—from manuscript assessments to substantive editing, copy-editing, and proofreading—for everything from picture books to middle-grade and adult fiction and nonfiction. A resident of Dartmouth, NS, Marianne is a founding and current member of both the Atlantic Book Awards Society and the Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards; she recently served two terms on the board of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. Marianne is an incurable reader with enormous respect and admiration for writers.




    The 2021- 2022 judge: Hugh MacDonald

    The 2021-22 winners:  

    First Place—Andrew Campbell, Nail House: 10048  

    Second Place—Eva Allen, The Gift  

    Third Place—Pat Post, The Defaulters 




    "It was a gift to receive the call that I had been awarded the Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize for my short story. The story I submitted to the contest has deep personal meaning for me and to hear it had reached someone was an incredible feeling. From start to finish, the contest was a positive, affirming experience for me. It was meaningful to hear the kind words from the contest judge and an absolute treat to meet with other writers to read our work. There are so many talented writers working in this province; being part of the reading was a huge honor. Writing communities are creative lifeblood for anyone who wants to write and this contest, for me, was a way to interact with the talented writers in New Brunswick. " Agata Atonow, Florenceville-Bristol, NB, 2021 winner

    "I received the Douglas Kyle Award in 2016. At the time I was getting rejection letters left and right and really feeling it. This award and the recognition of my peers gave me the confidence to keep going and even though I’ve since gone through long periods where I can’t seem to get the words down on the page, having that award in my back pocket always reminds me of what I am capable of." Jamie Gibbs, Miramichi, 2016 winner


    © 2021 Writers' Federation of New Brunswick

    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.

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