Contests & Competitions – March Deadlines

Briarpatch 2026 Northern Writing Prize

Genre: Feature Article, Photo Essay, or Graphic Narrative
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 1, 2026
Prize: First prize of $600 CAD, one mentoring session to develop the draft, and publication in the Spring 2026 issue of Briarpatch
Description: The Northern Writing Prize was established in 2018 to help writers, photographers, and artists tell stories about the North. The winner will be selected for a feature article, photo essay, or graphic narrative that examines the politics, culture, environmental issues, and/or activism present in Canada’s North. Please send pitches to pitch[AT]briarpatchmagazine.com with the subject line “Northern Writing Prize.”
Details: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/northernwritingprize

CBC Nonfiction Prize

Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $25 CAD
Deadline: March 1, 2026, 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Description: Submit your original, unpublished works of nonfiction up to 2,000 words.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

First Pages Prize

Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: $20 USD per entry; $35 USD per entry during extended entry period
Deadline: March 1, 2026
Prize: First prize of $2,000 USD; second prize of $1,500 USD; third prize of $1,000 USD; all winners receive a developmental mentorship that will include virtual meetings to discuss your work, review of select pieces of your work, and potentially a written report from the mentor, and a consultation with an agent via Zoom
Description: The First Pages Prize is an annual prize awarded to three emerging writers. The competition is for writers who are NOT currently represented by a literary agent, whether for previously published or unpublished work. Writers from anywhere in the world may enter, if eligible. Entrants must be currently unagented. If you are working with an agent, you are NOT eligible to enter. Please submit the first 1,250 words (maximum) of a fiction or creative non-fiction manuscript (such as a novella, novel, memoir, etc.)
Details: https://www.firstpagesprize.com/guidelines-and-termsconditions

PRISM International Jacob Zilber Prize for Short Fiction

Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $35 CAD if you reside in Canada, $40 CAD if you reside in the US, and $45 CAD if you reside outside of North America, plus $5 for each additional entry (includes a one-year subscription to Prism Magazine)
Deadline: March 1, 2026
Prize: Grand prize of $1,500 CAD; runner-up prize of $600 CAD; second runner-up prize of $400 CAD
Description: Maximum word count of 4,000. Entries must be original, previously unpublished in print or online.
Details: https://prismmagazine.ca/contests/

SEALOEarth Global Essay Contest 2026

Genre: Non-fiction, Science Writing, Essay
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 1, 2026
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.
Details: https://www.sealoearth.org/essaycontest.html

Editors Canada 2026 Claudette Upton Scholarship

Genre: Editing
Nomination Fee: None
Nomination Deadline: March 6, 2026
Prize: $1,000 CAD scholarship
Description: This scholarship is to help support continuing professional development in editing. Applicants must be current student affiliates of Editors Canada. The scholarship will be presented at Editors Canada’s national conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 22, 2026.
Details: https://editors.ca/about/awards/claudette-upton-scholarship/

Editors Canada 2026 Equity Fellowship

Genre: Editing
Nomination Fee: None
Nomination Deadline: March 6, 2026
Prize: Each fellowship is valued at $1,250 CAD
Description: This annual fellowship is designed to support editors who have traditionally been excluded by the publishing and editing industries, including editors who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour), 2SLGBTQIA+, neurodivergent and disabled. The Equity Fellowship is awarded to up to three successful applicants each year.
Details: https://editors.ca/about/awards/equity-fellowship/

Editors Canada 2026 Karen Virag Award

Genre: Editing
Nomination Fee: None
Nomination Deadline: March 6, 2026
Prize: $400 CAD and a commemorative plaque
Description: Nominations for the Karen Virag Award, an award dedicated to recognizing the efforts of editors, are now open. A nominee’s contributions may take on a variety of forms, including one or more of the following: writing, public speaking, teaching, participation in broadcast or new media, and sponsoring editing-related activities and community building in Canada and abroad.
Details: http://www.editors.ca/about/awards/karen-virag-award

Stella Kupferberg 2026 Memorial Short Story Prize

Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $25 USD per story
Deadline: March 6, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: $1,000 USD 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/

Islands Short Fiction Review 2026

Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: None for junior and youth category entries, $10 CAD per adult member entry, and $20 CAD per adult non-member entry
Deadline: March 8, 2026
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/

Taste Canada Awards 2026

Genre: Cookbooks
Entry Fee: $118 CAD per title
Deadline: March 9, 2026, 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 2025 to the 2026 Taste Canada Awards.
Details: https://tastecanada.org/publishers-authors/?mc_cid=9c8dc6af60&mc_eid=a9ae0243ea

North Shore Writers’ Association (NSWA) 30th Annual Writing Contest

Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Youth categories
Entry Fee: $15 CAD for non-members, $10 CAD for members, and $5 CAD for youth under 18
Deadline: March 15, 2026
Prize: First prize of $100 CAD; second prize of $75 CAD; third prize of $50 CAD; two  youth prizes of $75 CAD each for under 12’s and 12-18 years; publication in the online anthology Rivulets
Description: Open to all Canadian residents. This contest is looking for Fiction, Non Fiction, and Poetry under 2,000 words.
Details: https://www.nswriters.org/annual-contest/

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

Ewart-Daveluy Award for Indexing

Genre: Indexing
Entry Fee: $30 CAD
Nomination Deadline: March 16, 2026
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 2024 or 2025.
Details: https://indexers.ca/ewart-daveluy-indexing-award/ewart-daveluy-award-submission/

Alberta Magazine Awards

Genre: Magazine
Entry Fee: Early Bird fee of $40 CAD per entry; regular fee of $50 CAD per entry; each Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA) voting and affiliate member magazine receive one free entry
Deadline: Early bird deadline of February 6, 2026, at 4:00 pm MT; final deadline of March 20, 2026, at 4:00 pm MT
Prize: The program recognizes extraordinary content with 18 written, visual, digital, and integrated Showcase Award categories, 5 Alberta Achievement Award categories, and 3 Out-of-Province Awards
Description: The Alberta Magazine Awards program honours and celebrates the work of magazine makers – the editors, art directors, writers, photographers, illustrators, and other creators – who collectively bring passion and insight to the unique Alberta culture and ensure Alberta voices and stories are shared throughout the province and beyond our borders.
Details: https://albertamagazines.com/awards/

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, 2026
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/

The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction

Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $2 USD
Deadline: March 28, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: 2 to 4 prizes of a share in $1,000 USD prize pool and publication; 10 – 20 authors will be shortlisted
Description: Open to anyone in the world. Most forms of nonfiction are welcome. Judges’ Feedback available. Judged blind. Maximum of 5,000 words.
Details: https://letterreview.com/information/

The Letter Review Prize for Poetry

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 28, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: 2 to 4 prizes of a share in $1,000 USD prize pool and publication; 10 to 20 authors will be shortlisted
Description: Open to anyone in the world. There are no style or subject restrictions. Judges’ Feedback available. Judged blind. Maximum of 70 lines.
Details: https://letterreview.com/information/

The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction

Genre: Short Fiction
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 28, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: 2 to 4 prizes of a share in $1,000 USD prize pool and publication; 10 – 20 authors will be shortlisted
Description: Open to anyone in the world. There are no genre or theme restrictions. Judges feedback available. Judged blind. Maximum of 5,000 words.
Details: https://letterreview.com/information/

The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books

Genre: Manuscript
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: March 28, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET
Prize: 2 to 4 prizes of a share in $1,000 USD prize pool and publication; 10 – 20 authors will be shortlisted
Description: Open to anyone in the world. The entry must not have been traditionally published. Seeking all varieties of novels, short story collections, nonfiction, and poetry collections, and accepting which are unpublished, self published, and some which are indie published. Review full entry guidelines for further details. Feedback available. Judged blind. Please submit the first 5,000 words of your prose manuscript, or 15 pages of poetry.
Details: https://letterreview.com/information/

Creative Writing Ink Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2026

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: €15 per poem
Deadline: March 31, 2026
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

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 31, 2026
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/

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

Room Magazine’s Poetry Contest

Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $35 CAD if you reside in Canada, $45 CAD if you reside in the US, and $55 CAD if you reside outside of North America, plus $7 CAD for each additional entry (includes a one-year subscription to Room)
Deadline: March 31, 2026, at 3:00 am ET
Prize: First prize of $1,000 CAD; second prize of $250 CAD; honourable mention prize of $100 CAD; all prizes include publication on Room’s website
Description: Room publishes work by people of all marginalized genders, including cis and trans women, trans men, nonbinary, and Two-Spirit people. An entry (both initial and additional) can include up to three poems or 150 lines of poetry in a single document.
Details: https://room.submittable.com/submit?mc_cid=2bdfcb9908&mc_eid=40a3648b84