Writing contest archive and winners: 2022

Details for CAA Toronto Branch’s 2023 Writing contest are below!

Fiction and Poetry Writing Competition open to all Canadian authors with $700 in prizes and the chance to work with a professional editor and be published in an annual anthology!

Note – submission deadline has been extended to November 30, 2023

Timeline:

• Contest opened Friday, September 1, 2023, and closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 30, 2023. Enter through the live submission link below “How to Enter.”

Entry Fee: 

• $20 Canadian per contest entry of either fiction or poetry, payment via PAYPAL only.

Awards: 

• Cash prizes for first ($200), second ($100), and third-place ($50) will be awarded in each category. 
• All winners and 20 runner ups will work with a professional editor to be published in an annual contest anthology book as well as participate in a book launch event featuring author readings.
• All entries will receive a copy of the contest anthology eBook as a mini prize!

How to Enter:

• 1) Click on the Paypal link or use the below QR code with Paypal app on your phone to send $20 to CAA-Toronto as “Payment for 2023 Writing Contest”. Please remember to copy down Transaction ID and Date after payment (you will need these for the next step).
• 2) Click on this link to fill in a Google form which will ask for the Paypal Transaction ID and Date, and upload your entry: 2023 Writing Contest Submission Form.

Contact for questions:

• Please email “caatocontest at gmail.com” with any questions.
• Please do not send in any entries to this email address, they will be ignored.

Judges:

• Fiction judge is K.L. Shailer, of Maple Ridge, BC, winner of the Inaugural CAA−Toronto Fiction contest 2022 (see her bio and judge’s statement below).
• Poetry judge is Sneha Subramanian Kanta, of Toronto, ON, winner of the Inaugural CAA–Toronto Poetry contest 2022 (see her bio and judge’s statement below).

Rules for Fiction Entries

• Submissions can be in any genre (literary, horror, speculative, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.). There is no theme; all we ask is that you surprise and delight us! 
• Formatting: All entries will be read blind. Please do not include identifying information such as your name or email in your story. Please use 11 pt. Arial or Calibri or 12 pt. font Times New Roman, double-spaced. 
• Word count: 2,500 (minimum) to 3,000 (maximum), not including your title.
• File type accepted: Word file (doc, docx).
• Language: Majority of entry should be in English.

Rules for Poetry Entries

• We’re accepting all forms of poetry for this contest, including lyrical, formal, free verse, visual, experimental, concrete, haiku and other micro poetic forms, and spoken word, etc.
• Formatting: All entries will be read blind. Please do not include identifying information such as your name or email in your story. Please use 11 pt. Arial or Calibri or 12 pt. font Times New Roman, double-spaced. 
• Word count: Poems should be no more than 50 lines, including line breaks (but not including the title).
• For spoken word entries, please submit an audio file (mp3) along with a written (typed) version of the poem. As with all submissions, spoken word poems should be 50 lines total including line breaks. The total length of the recording of each poem should be less than two minutes. Spoken word submissions can include up to two poems per entry.
• File types accepted: Word (doc, docx), pdf or mp3.
• Language: Majority of entry should be in English.

Additional Rules for the competition:

• No previously published work or AI generated work! Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know as soon as possible if your story has been accepted elsewhere.
• Submissions containing harmful stereotypes and perspectives, including racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism or ableism, or any other discriminatory content, will be disqualified.
• Open to Canadian citizens and residents only.

Fiction Judge Bio & Statement:

K.L. Shailer, Maple Ridge, BC; winner of the Inaugural CAA−Toronto Fiction contest 2022

Judge’s statement: 

“What I like and look for in a fiction story: I love a story that both stimulates my brain and grabs at my heartstrings. But most of all, it must develop a character I can care about.”

Bio: 

Since immigrating to Canada in her mid-twenties, K. L. Shailer has worked as an ESL instructor, marketing manager for a credit union, editor, university professor, researcher, and academic administrator. After teaching and writing about German and Danish Romanticism, she turned her hand to applying fairy tale themes and tropes to original short fiction. She has published stories in CommuterLit and Uproar, and won the inaugural flash fiction contest of the Canadian Authors Association (Toronto) in 2022.

Press Release Excerpt on why you should enter:

CAA Toronto branch’s Co-President JF Garrard comments, “We are excited to be hosting a writing competition to highlight the best in Canadian fiction and poetry for the second year in a row! Entering a writing competition gives the opportunity for writers to grow their abilities with a new challenge and by offering a chance of publication, increases a writer’s exposure to readers, other authors, editors, literary agents and publishers. If you don’t enter the lottery you won’t win! Best of luck to all contestants as we embark on this adventure.”

Link to Press Release (forthcoming)

Contact: caatocontest at gmail.com