Contests & Competitions – March Deadlines

Canadian Authors Association (CAA) Fred Kerner Book Award

CBC Nonfiction Prize

Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $25 CAD
Deadline: March 1, 2024, 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Description: Submit your original, unpublished works of nonfiction up to 2,000 words.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/cbc-nonfiction-prize-1.4090951

Manitoba Writers’ Guild Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition

Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $20 CAD per entry
Deadline: March 1, 2024, at 12:00 midnight CT
Prize: First prize of $1,000 and a three-year complimentary membership; second prize of $600 and a two-year complimentary membership; third prize of $400 and a one-year complimentary membership
Description: Open to writers across Canada who are 18 years of age or older. 2,500 – 5,000 words in any fiction genre. The three prize winners plus up to four honourable mentions will be published in an eBook anthology by the Manitoba Writers’ Guild.
Details: https://mbwriters.ca/programs/short-story-competition/

SEALOEarth Global Essay Contest 2024

Genre: Non-fiction, Science Writing, Essay
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 1, 2024
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 27.
Details: https://www.sealoearth.org/essaycontest.html

Stella Kupferberg 2024 Memorial Short Story Prize

Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $25 USD per story
Deadline: March 1, 2024, 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/selected-shorts/the-stella-kupferberg-memorial-short-story-prize#:~:text=The%20Stella%20Kupferberg%20Memorial%20Short%20Story%20Prize&text=The%202024%20Stella%20Kupferberg%20Memorial,and%20published%20on%20Electric%20Literature.

Taste Canada Awards 2024

Genre: Cookbooks
Entry Fee: $118 per title
Deadline: March 6, 2024, 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 2023 to the 2024 Taste Canada Awards.
Details: https://tastecanada.org/publishers-authors/?mc_cid=9c8dc6af60&mc_eid=a9ae0243ea

Bardsy Winter Anthology Contest: Compelling First Chapters

Genre: First Chapters
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: March 11, 2024, with revisions due by March 23, 2024
Prize: Grand prize of $1,000 USD and anthology publication; finalist prizes of $50 USD and anthology publication
Description: Enter the first chapter of your in-progress novel or memoir. Your goal is to create a sample that compels readers to click buy. That means first chapters that capture the attention and leave readers eager to keep reading. Successful first chapters will build a foundation for the story to come, establishing key story elements like character, world, and conflict. All qualified entrants will receive professional feedback from the editing team before judging, so the earlier you submit, the more time you have to revise. Prerequisites are an original, unpublished first chapter, word count of 2,500 to 3,000 words. Entrants must be 18+. Please do not send short stories or your entire manuscript. English only.
Details: https://bardsy.com/contest

Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story: Short Story Contest

Genre: Short Story (Ages 19 years and older)
Entry Fee: $25 CAD
Deadline: March 15, 2024
Prize: First prize of $1,500 CAD; second prize of $250 CAD; third prize of $250 CAD
Description: The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story is an annual three-day festival that features workshops, readings, onstage presentations, and community events that celebrate emerging writers and short fiction. The next Festival takes place where Alice Munro grew up, in Huron County, Ontario, Canada, in June, 2024. The Short Story Competition is an opportunity for writers to explore the short story, a literary art form made popular by 2013 Nobel Laureate Alice Munro. The winning entry will be the Canadian work of up to 2,500 words in the English language, fiction, written by an author not yet published in book format. Winners will be announced at the 2024 Festival with simultaneous social and print media release.
Details: https://www.alicemunrofestival.ca/shortstorycontest

Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story: Youth Short Story Contest

Genre: Short Story (Up to 19 years of age on or before March 25, 2024)
Entry Fee: $10 CAD
Deadline: March 15, 2024
Prize: First prize of $500 CAD; second prize of $250 CAD; third prize of $250 CAD
Description: The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story is an annual three-day festival that features workshops, readings, onstage presentations, and community events that celebrate emerging writers and short fiction. The next Festival takes place where Alice Munro grew up, in Huron County, Ontario, Canada, in June, 2024. The Short Story Competition is an opportunity for writers to explore the short story, a literary art form made popular by 2013 Nobel Laureate Alice Munro. The winning entry will be the Canadian work of up to 2,500 words in the English language, fiction, written by an author not yet published in book format. Winners will be announced at the 2024 Festival with simultaneous social and print media release.
Details:https://www.alicemunrofestival.ca/shortstorycontest

Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense

Genre: Romanc Suspense, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Entry Fee: $15 UStiD for The Kiss of Death Chapter of the Romance Writers of America members; $30 USD for non-members

Deadline: March 15, 2024
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/

Ewart-Daveluy Award for Indexing

Genre: Indexing
Entry Fee: $30 CAD
Nomination Deadline: March 15, 2024
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 2022 or 2023.
Details: https://indexers.ca/ewart-daveluy-indexing-award/ewart-daveluy-award-submission/

Islands Short Fiction Review 2024

Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: $20 CAD per adult entry; no fees for junior and youth (one entry limit)
Deadline: March 15, 2024, at 9:00 pm ET
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/

North Shore Writers’ Association (NSWA) 28th Annual Writing Contest

Genre: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Children and YA
Entry Fee: $10 per entry for NSWA members, $15 per entry for non-members, and $5 per entry for all youth
Deadline: March 15, 2024
Prize: First prize in each Adult category of $100 CAD; second prize in each Adult category of $75 CAD; third prize in each Adult category of $50 CAD; first prize in a separate youth division (grades 8-12) of $50 CAD and a $25 CAD gift certificate; all winning entries will be published on the NSWA website
Description: The 28th Annual Writing Contest will be open for submissions January 15 – March 15. Winners will be announced during the North Shore Writers’ Festival April 12 – 13. Contest categories include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults. Multiple/simultaneous submissions in all categories acceptable.
Details: https://www.nswriters.org/annual-contest/

The Ontario Poetry Society’s $500 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, 2024
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

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, 2024
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/

SAAG Arts Writing Prize

Genre: Art Writing
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 30, 2024
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

Creative Writing Ink Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2024

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: €15 per poem
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Prize: First prize of €1000 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://creativewriting.ie/competitions/the-caterpillar-poetry-prize-2024/

Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest Winter 2023 – 2024

Genre: Poetry and Short Story
Entry Fee: $5 USD per poem and $10 USD per short story
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Poetry Prize: First prize of $250 USD; second prize of $125 USD; third prize of $50 USD
Short Story Prize: First prize of $500 USD; second prize of $250 USD; third prize of $100 USD
Description: This poetry contest and writing contest is open to everyone international. Poems may be written on any subject, theme, style or form, and must be 30 lines or fewer. Short stories may be written on a maximum of five pages on any subject or theme.
Details: https://www.dreamquestone.com/

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

Minds Shine Bright Seasons Writing Competition

Genre: Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Script Writing
Entry Fee: $5 AU
Deadline: March 31, 2024
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. They run the Seasons Writing Competition which features a changing external theme. Light and Shadow is this year’s contest theme.
Details: https://mindsshinebright.com/