2025 Canadian Authors Fred Kerner Book Award

 

2025 SUBMISSIONS OPEN TOMORROW

 

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.

Fred Kerner was a devoted and longtime CAA member. An Honorary President of the association until his passing in 2011 at 90, Fred was an author, journalist, editor, teacher, and mentor. He wrote more than twelve books and also wrote for magazines, radio and TV, and he gave unstintingly of his time to assist emerging writers.

Prize: $400 and a one-year membership with Canadian Authors Association
Entry Fee: $30 per title entered (no limit to the number of titles)
Deadline: March 31, 2025, 11:45 pm ET

 

Eligibility Criteria

  • Only current CAA members whose memberships are up to date are eligible for this award.
  • Entries must be full-length English-Language literature written by a single author or co-written by two or more authors. In the case of multiple authors, at least three must be current CAA members.
  • Books in all genres are eligible, as are self-published books. However, ebooks are not eligible at this time.
  • Publication may have taken place outside Canada, but the author must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
  • The book must have been published in the previous calendar year (i.e., 2024).
  • Entrants cannot win a prize two years in a row.
  • Reprints, translations, and posthumous entries are not eligible.

Submission to this competition opens November 6, 2024.

How to Enter

This competition is only open to Canadian Authors Association members. You must fill out the entry form below and pay the entry fee(s).

ENTRY FORM
  1. Complete and submit one entry form for each title being entered
  2. Pay $30 for each title you are submitting
  3. Ship three copies of each submitted book plus a cover letter listing the books to:

CAA Kerner Book Award
c/o Brandi Tanner
19 Machell Avenue
Aurora, ON  L4G 2R6

Process

Each Fall, the awards trustee selects and works with two judges. The identities of the judges are confidential throughout the judging process. Decisions of the judges and the trustee are final, and they may choose not to award a prize in any given year.

A shortlist of the top five entries will be announced in the summer of 2025.

 

Questions? Contact Brandi at admin(at)canadianauthors.org.