CBC Nonfiction Prize

Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $25 CAD
Deadline: March 1, 2025, at 4:59 pm ET
Prize: Grand prize of $6,000, publication of the winning story on CBC Books, and the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point; four finalist prizes of $1,000 each and publication of the winning story on CBC Books
Description: Submit your original, unpublished works of nonfiction up to 2,000 words. There is no minimum. Open to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada. You can submit memoir, biography, humour writing, essay (including personal essay), travel writing and feature articles.
Details: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes

 

SEALOEarth Global Essay Contest 2025

Genre: Non-fiction, Science Writing, Essay
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 1, 2025
Prize: First prize of $200 USD; second prize of $100 USD
Description: The essay contest is open to writers around the world in three categories: youth (ages 9-13), juniors (ages 14-18), seniors (ages 19-25), and noncompetitive (26 and above).The awards in each category will be announced at the Earth Day Celebration on April 26.
Details: https://www.sealoearth.org/essaycontest.html

 

Bardsy 2025 Anthology Contest: Publishable First Chapters

Genre: First Chapters
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: March 3, 2025, with revisions due by March 7, 2025
Prize: Grand prize of $1,000 USD and anthology publication; finalist prizes of $50 USD and anthology publication
Description: In this contest, Bardsy will apply their Publishability Index ™ to your first chapter. Their editors will identify room for improvement and guide you through revision, so they can publish the best in their upcoming anthology. Must be original, in English, and 1,500 – 2,500 words.
Details: https://bardsy.com/contest

 

Stella Kupferberg 2025 Memorial Short Story Prize

Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $25 USD per story
Deadline: March 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: $1,000 and a free 10-week course with Gotham Writers
Description: The Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize is a writing competition sponsored by the stage and radio series Selected Shorts. This long-running series at Symphony Space in New York City celebrates the art of the short story by having stars of stage and screen read aloud the works of established and emerging writers. Selected Shorts is recorded for Public Radio and heard nationally on both the radio and its weekly podcast. Entrees should be 750 words or less. Stories can be on any theme.
Details: https://www.symphonyspace.org/

 

Taste Canada Awards 2025

Genre: Cookbooks
Entry Fee: $118 per title
Deadline: March 10, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: Taste Canada Awards will honour twenty jury-selected books, five Gold and five Silver in English and five Gold and five Silver in French; the privilege to display a Taste Canada Awards Shortlist Seal on shortlisted books and online use, a Gold or Silver Seal for the winning books and online use; winners receive an engraved crystal trophy to commemorate winning a Gold or Silver Award
Description: Taste Canada Awards/Les Lauréats des Saveurs du Canada invites all publishers and authors to submit books published in 2024 to the 2025 Taste Canada Awards.
Details: https://tastecanada.org/publishers-authors/?mc_cid=9c8dc6af60&mc_eid=a9ae0243ea

 

Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense

Genre: Romanc Suspense, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Entry Fee: $15 USD for The Kiss of Death Chapter of the Romance Writers of America members; $30 USD for non-members
Deadline: March 15, 2025
Prize: Engraved bookmarks and multiple forms of recognition First prize in each category of an engraved bookmark or equivalent prize and a voucher for one COFFIN online class; top overall scoring entry will receive a plaque or alternative award as determined by the contest committee and an additional voucher for a COFFIN class; all finalists will receive a certificate and a digital medallion stating Finalist or First Place (as appropriate) and a voucher for one COFFIN online class
Description: The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense is named for Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca, a suspense novel with romantic and gothic overtones and a precursor to today’s romantic suspense. The writing contest is for published and unpublished authors of mystery, suspense, and thrillers with or without romantic subplots. The contest provides helpful feedback by trained judges. There are two divisions within the contest, published and unpublished, and 7 categories.
Details: https://www.rwakissofdeath.org/kodcontest/

 

North Shore Writers’ Association (NSWA) 29th Annual Writing Contest

Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Children and Youth categories
Entry Fee: $15 for non-members, $10 for members, and $5 for youth under 18
Deadline: March 15, 2025
Prize: First prize of $100; second prize of $75; third prize of $50  also two $75 prizes for youth: under 12’s, and 12-18 years)
Description: The 29th annual writing contest will open January 15, 2025.
Details: https://www.nswriters.org/annual-contest/

 

Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest

Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $40 CAD (includes a one-year Canadian subscription or renewal to The New Quarterly)
Deadline: March 28, 2025
Prize: $1,000 CAD; all entries will be considered for publication in The New Quarterly with $250 CAD paid upon publication
Description: Edna Staebler was a pioneer in the field of literary journalism and a beloved figure in her home region of Waterloo, Ontario. Edna led by example in other ways as well, founding eponymous writers’ awards, scholarships, and bursaries to nurture writers. She helped to found The New Quarterly in 1981, and in 2005 her generous bequest allowed them to establish this award in her honour. Interested in essays in which the writer’s personal engagement with the subject provides the frame or through-line. While there is no word limit to personal essay contest entries, most essays fall within the range of 2,000 – 5,000 words.
Details: https://tnq.ca/edna-staebler-contest/

 

Canadian Authors Association (CAA) Fred Kerner Book Award

Genre: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry
Entry Fee: $30 CAD per title
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: $400 and a one-year complimentary membership ($175 value)
Description: Open to CAA members only. The Fred Kerner Book Award is awarded annually to a Canadian Authors member who has the best overall book published in the previous calendar year, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Details: https://canadianauthors.org/national/awards/submit-for-an-award

 

Creative Writing Ink Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2025

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: €15 per poem
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of €1,000 and a week at Circle of Misse in France; second prize of €500; third prize of €250; all winning poems will be published in the Irish Times online
Description: The Caterpillar Poetry Prize is an annual prize for an unpublished poem written by an adult for children aged 7–11. Open to anyone over 16. The poems can be on any subject.as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.
Details: https://www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=7254&page=14

 

Kids Write 4 Kids Annual Writing Contest for Grades 4 – 8

Genre: Short Story (Students in grades 4 – 8)
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: Winner will be published at Amazon, Apple iBookstore, Google Play, and Overdrive, have the proceeds from the book sales donated to the charity of their choice, and be part of the judging panel for the following year’s contest
Description: Open to Canadian residents who are enrolled as full-time students in a public, private institutional school or home school in grades 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 at the time of their entry. Entries must be made by either the parent or guardian of the minor author of the submission or by the author’s teacher with the permission of the author’s parent or guardian. Stories can be fact or fiction, prose or poetry. Maximum word count of 6,500 words.

 

Martyn Godfrey Young Writers Award

Genre: Short Stories (Albertan Students in Grades 4 – 9)
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: Three winners in each grade receive a prize of books and an invitation to an exclusive online writing workshop
Description: There are a lot of awesome young writers and artists in Alberta who deserve a little extra recognition, and the Martyn Godfrey Award is just the thing! This is an annual, juried short story contest open to all Albertan students in grades 4 through 9. Martyn Godfrey (1949 – 2000) was born in England and raised in Toronto. Initially a school teacher in Ontario and Alberta, he became a full-time writer for young adult and juvenile fiction in 1985. He had more than 40 books published, and he toured with the Young Alberta Book Society for many years. One of the things he enjoyed most about his career was laughing over the creative and hilarious letters he received from kids. It was his joy in reading those letters that inspired this award in his honor. Recommended short story length is 500 – 2,500 words. Maximum short story length is 5,000 words.
Details: https://www.yabs.ab.ca/martyn-godfrey-young-writers-award/

 

Minds Shine Places Writing Competition

Genre: Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story,
Entry Fee: $15 AU; $5 AU concession fee for pensioners and students
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $500 AU; second prize of $400 AU; third prize of $300 AU; fourth prize of $200 AU; commended entries will be awarded $100 AU each
Description: Minds Shine Bright is an arts business based in Australia committed to supporting the arts and writers. The Places competition is now open and local and international writers are welcome to submit stories and poems about all places that set your imagination free, that inspire and challenge you and that have stories to tell. 1,000 word limit for flash fiction pieces and 5,000 word limit for short stories.
Details: https://mindsshinebright.com/

 

The Ontario Poetry Society’s Golden Grassroots Chapbook Award

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for the first submission and $10 CAD for each additional submission
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $50 CAD, 50 Chapbooks, and a Certificate; second prize of $25 CAD, 25 Chapbooks, and a Certificate; third prize of $15 CAD, 15 Chapbooks, and a Certificate; 5 honorable mention awards receive a Certificate; all entrants receive one copy of all 3 winning chapbooks
Description: Contest held every second year. Open to Everyone in Canada and the U.S. Accepting 12 poems and no less and no more on one of the following humanist themes of family, community, traditions and customs, social issues, peace and the effects of war, climate change, ecological issues or the healing power of poetry. No lewdness, no foul language, and no heavy slant on religion. Free verse poems preferred. Each poem to be a maximum length of 60 lines and the stanza spaces count as lines.
Details: https://www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca/contest_Ellen_S_Jaffe_Humanist_Award.html

 

WFNB Alfred G. Bailey Prize

Genre: Poetry Manuscript
Entry Fee: $35 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $40 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $350 CAD; second prize of $200 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions need to be 48 to 96 pages. Individual poems can be previously published, but the manuscript must be unpublished.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321224

 

WFNB David Adams Richards Prize

Genre: Fiction Manuscript
Entry Fee: $35 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $40 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $400 CAD; second prize of $200 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for a story collection, novella, or novel extract between 15,000 to 30,000 words. Individual stories can be previously published, but a novella or novel extract must be unpublished.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321026

 

WFNB Dawn Watson Memorial Prize

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $25 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $200 CAD; second prize of $100 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for single poems up to 100 lines.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321225

 

WFNB Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize

Genre: Short Fiction
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $25 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $250 CAD; second prize of $150 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for a single story between 2,000 to 4,000 words.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321192

 

WFNB Jane LeBlanc Screenwriting Award

Genre: Short Film Scripts
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $25 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $500 CAD; second prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for short film scripts up to 15 minutes in length and must have been written within the last two years. Both unproduced or produced are accepted.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321292

 

WFNB Narrative Nonfiction Prize

Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Prose
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $25 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $200 CAD; second prize of $100 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions need to be between 1,500 and 3,000 words.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321291

 

WFNB Quantiphi Books for Young People Prize

Genre: Short Story or Poetry written for young people (up to age 18)
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) members and $25 CAD for non-members
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $200 CAD; second prize of $100 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for short stories or poems written for young people (up to age 18). Maximum of up to 4,500 words.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321257

 

WFNB Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers

Genre: Short Story or Poetry written by teens age 13 to 18
Entry Fee: $5 CAD
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Prize: First prize of $100 CAD; second prize of $50 CAD; third prize of a one-year WFNB membership
Description: Open to New Brunswick residents and/or members only. You must reside in New Brunswick, or be a WFNB member if you live outside NB. Submissions are for a short story or a poem written by teens age 13 to 18. Maximum of up to 4,000 words for short stories and up to 100 lines for poetry.
Details: https://wfnb.ca/Sys/Store/Products/321290

 

Ewart-Daveluy Award for Indexing

Genre: Indexing
Entry Fee: $30 CAD
Nomination Deadline: 2025 contest details to be announced
Prize: Framed certificate accompanied by a letter; feedback provided for up to three runners-up
Description: The ISC/SCI Ewart-Daveluy Award, inaugurated in 2015, is presented each year to an individual who has created an index that demonstrates outstanding expertise through a combination of skills. No restriction on the subject matter or genre — textbooks, cookbooks, guidebooks, memoirs, art books, how-to books, travel books, all books — it’s your index that will be looked at. Indexes eligible for this years award will have been published in 2023 or 2024.
Details: https://indexers.ca/ewart-daveluy-indexing-award/ewart-daveluy-award-submission/

 

Islands Short Fiction Review 2025

Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: $20 CAD per adult entry; no fees for junior and youth (one entry limit)
Deadline: 2025 contest details to be announced
Prize:  Winners will share $2,000 CAD in prizes and publication by the Nanaimo Arts Council
Description: The contest is open to all Vancouver Island and Gulf Island residents in three categories of juniors (12 and under), youth (13-18), and adults (19+). Entrants can write on any topic. Stories must be original, unpublished, not previously submitted to ISFR, and no longer than 2,000 words.
Details: https://nanaimoartscouncil.ca/isfr/

 

SAAG Arts Writing Prize

Genre: Art Writing
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: 2025 contest details to be announced
Arts Writing Prize: $1,000 CAD, opportunity for a paid public program worth $500 CAD, and an opportunity for an arts writing mentorship; runner-up prize of $250 CAD and an opportunity for an arts writing mentorship
Aruna D’Souza (BIPOC) Award: $1,000 CAD, opportunity for a paid public program worth $500 CAD, and an opportunity for an arts writing mentorship; runner-up prize of $250 CAD and an opportunity for an arts writing mentorship
Description: Writers may submit one piece of writing for consideration. Submissions are limited to 1,000 words. Participants may be considered for both awards depending on their eligibility. Submitters must identify which awards they would like to be considered for. All submissions must be original and previously unpublished, inclusive of online publications.
Details: https://www.saag.ca/programs/arts-writing-prize

 

The Word Guild’s Word Awards

Genre: Short Story, Poetry, Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $10 CAD per entry for members; $20 CAD per entry for non-members
Deadline: 2025 contest details to be announced
Prize: $50 CAD, recognition for Winner & Finalists at The Word Awards Celebration, and valuable detailed comments and marks on your submission from those in the writing industry (for all entrants)
Description: This contest is designed to encourage student writers in 2 age categories: high school and college/university. Enter original works in 5 categories. Short stories, nonfiction and poetry must be 1,500 words or less, first three chapters of an unpublished novel 15 pages or less and short script (screen or stage) 45 pages or less. The content of eligible entries must be consistent with a Christian worldview and the historic Christian tradition reflected in the Apostles’ Creed.
Details: https://thewordguild.com/contests/the-word-awards/

 

The Ontario Poetry Society’s Ellen S. Jaffe Humanist Award for Poetry

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $20 CAD for the first submission and $10 CAD for each additional submission
Deadline: March 15, 2026
Prize: First prize of $500 CAD, 50 Chapbooks, and a Certificate; 5 honorable mention awards receive a Certificate; the top 6 winners receive signed copies of Ellen’s Book, Skinny-Dipping with the Muse (Guernica Editions)
Description: Contest held every second year. Open to Everyone in Canada and the U.S. Accepting 12 poems and no less and no more on one of the following humanist themes of family, community, traditions and customs, social issues, peace and the effects of war, climate change, ecological issues or the healing power of poetry. No lewdness, no foul language, and no heavy slant on religion. Free verse poems preferred. Each poem to be a maximum length of 60 lines and the stanza spaces count as lines.
Details: https://www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca/contest_Ellen_S_Jaffe_Humanist_Award.html