2024 Canadian Authors Fred Kerner Book Award

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 1, 2024 [The deadline has passed and no further submissions for the 2024 award will be accepted.]

 

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., 2023).
  • Entrants cannot win a prize two years in a row.
  • Reprints, translations, and posthumous entries are not eligible.

Submission to this competition opens October 5, 2023.

 

How to Enter

Since the competition is only open to members, you must logged in your CAA member account in order to access the entry form and pay the entry fee(s). Your next steps are as follows:

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

Canadian Authors Book Award
c/o Anita Purcell
45 Penetang Street
Orillia, ON  L3V 3N3

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 by early June, and the winner will be announced during the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) in June 2024.

 

Questions? Contact Anita at apurcell@canadianauthors.org.

 

Ready to Submit?

Have your credit card information handy and complete one entry form for each submission here. [The deadline has passed for submissions. Please check back this fall for the 2025 Fred Kerner Book Award competition.]