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Writing Advice

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Contests Especially for Students

The League of Canadian Poets

Markets for Young Writers

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Contest Basics

Contest Details 2009/2010
No deadline: "Do you have a story or poem you've written and of which you are especially proud?" Hazel Hutchins, widely published Canadian children's novelist and picture-book author, invites submissions from young writers. "It has to be short, I'm afraid—200 words maximum—and I can't send you individual comments about it (I have to have time to write too!), but I will definitely read it and for each of the months January, February, and March I will send one of my books to the author of the story or poem I like best. Any entries arriving in April-November will be saved for next December's contest. The contest is open to ages 6 to 12. I am, however, happy to read work sent by older students who are simply looking for a place to share their stories and poems. For more details, visit me online at http://www.telusplanet.net/public/hj hutch/home.html. Please enclose your name, mailing address, and age, and e-mail to hjhutch@telusplanet.net"

January 15, 2010: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Arts and Letters Awards. Junior Division has two categories: ages 12 to 14 and 15 to 18, for young writers ordinarily residents in the province. Poetry awards $250. Prose awards $250 (for short story, essay, or dramatic script to 5,000 words). Entries must be individual effort. No group work. One entry only per section. Typed, double-spaced entries preferred, but neatly handwritten entries also accepted. Blind judging: entrant's name, address, and telephone number given only on a separate sheet and not on the entry itself. Application form required with a statement signed that the work is original, completed within the past 12 months, not published previously, and not submitted to another competition. No faxed or e-mailed entries. SASE for manuscript return. Brief written adjudication sent to each entrant. Results announced in April 2010. Arts and Letters Awards, P.O. Box 1854, St. John's, NF A1C 5P9, telephone (709) 729-5253. Further details at http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/artsculture/artsandletters/rules2010.pdf, and Application Form at http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/artsculture/artsandletters/application2010.pdf.

January 15, 2010: Hibernating with Words Poetry Contest. For previously unpublished poems to 40 lines each by teens ages 14 to 19 and children age 13 and under. Teen prizes $75, $35, and Web site publication; children's prizes $40, $20, and Web site publication. Teen entry fee $4.00 per poem; children $3.00 per poem. Submit three typed copies of the work (please divide poems into three piles, not stapled, for three separate judges). Place name, address, telephone number and/or e-mail address, and poem title in a single covering letter only. Blind judging. No manuscript return. Winners announced on the Web site in February. Hibernating with Words Poetry Contest, Pandora's Collective, Delamont Postal Outlet, P.O. Box 29118, 1950 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 5C2, online http://www.pandorascollective.com/contest.html, e-mail blnish_pandoras@yahoo.ca.

January 15, 2010: The Poetic Licence Contest for Canadian Youth. Sponsored by The League of Canadian Poets Young Poets. For previously unpublished poems to 50 lines, limit two per poet, any type or style, on any subject. Poems must be edited. Two age categories: Junior (grades 7 to 9) and Senior (grades 10 to 12, up to age 19). Cash prizes of $350, $300, and $200 in each age category. All winners will receive poetic licence certificates and will be granted one-year student membership in the League. In addition, all winning posted on the League’s websites http://www.poets.ca and http://www.youngpoets.ca. No entry or other fees. Include your name, age, grade, school, home address, and telephone number, and e-mail along with the titles of the poems entered, as well as a short autobiography of one to three sentences. Members of the League's National Council, staff, or judges and their families may not enter. Submit all poems not as attachments, but as plain text files in the body of an e-mail message. Send poems to readings@poets.ca, with the subject line Poetic Licence Contest for Canadian Youth.. After entry, no revisions accepted. If an entry becomes published elsewhere, please notify the League immediately. Judges' decisions are final. For a full description of prizes and rules, please read the official contest guidelines on The League of Canadian Poets' youth Web site at http://www.youngpoets.ca/poeticlicense2010.pdf.

January 31, 2009: The Brucedale Press Acrostic Story Contest. For an acrostic story no longer than 26 sentences. The first sentence must begin, "According to my boss. . . ...." Following sentences must begin with words in the sequence of the English alphabet. Any subject or theme is acceptable, provided there is no profanity, obscenity, ageism, racism or sexism. First prize 25% of the entry fees, second prize 15%, third prize 10%, up to three honourable mentions, and publication in the next edition of The Leaf. Entrants under the age of 18 must have a parent or responsible adult sign their entry form. Entry fee $5.00 per story, cheque or money order payable to The Brucedale Press. Submit two copies of each story by postal mail only, with an official entry form (available online or for SASE) attached to one copy. Blind judging. SASE for manuscript return. Winners announced in spring 2009. The Brucedale Press Acrostic Story Contest, Box 2259, Port Elgin, ON N0H 2C0, online http://www.bmts.com/~brucedale/contest.htm, e-mail (for enquiries only) brucedale@bmts.com

February 4, 2010: Annual Muriel Morrison Young Authors and Poets Awards. For Junior Scribes ages 6 to 11 and Senior Scribes ages 12 to 15. Young Authors Award is for an original tale drawn from an event or adventure from your own experience or that of someone you know, with your own ideas and twists added, and interesting characters, plot, and setting to make it more creative-non-fiction. Length 250 to 400 words for Juniors, and 400 to 800 words for Seniors. Prize from $15 to $25 certificate. Young Poets Award is for two contrasting poems, maximum 25 lines each, rhyming and/or non-rhyming (free verse). No acrostic poems, please. Prize is a $15 certificate. Tips: consider the senses in your poetry, feelings (happy, sad, humorous, thoughtful) that appeal to readers, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and the effect and musicality of words. The author's name should not appear on the manuscript but be enclosed in a sealed envelope with the story or poem titles written on the outside. Send copies only, not originals, typed double spaced, by Canada Post. No e-mail submissions. Results in the spring. For further details, telephone 1-705-652-0272 or e-mail klp@nexicom.net. Muriel Morrison Young Authors and Poets Awards, Box 299, Lakefield, ON K0L 2H0.

February 25, 2009: Ontario Nature 4th Annual Youth Writing Contest, sponsored by Waste Management. An essay, story, or piece of creative writing, maximum 700 words, typed and double-spaced, by an Ontario student in grade 7 or 8. "We bet you’ve had a great experience with some part of nature. Perhaps it was collecting and studying frogs at the lake this summer? Perhaps it was climbing your favourite tree in the park close to your home. Nature is everywhere, miles away from nowhere, and right in your own backyard!" Your topic: Every day we make choices that could help or harm our environment. What are you doing that has a positive impact on our environment? The top three entries will be published in Ontario Nature magazine, honoured at the Ontario Nature Annual General Meeting and Conference, and receive "cool prizes". Include a cover page with the title of your essay, your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, the name of your parent or guardian and your school, and the grade you're in. Mail your original entries to Youth Writing Contest Ontario Nature, 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 201, Toronto, ON M5V 1R9. Further information is online at http://www.ontarionature.org/events/youthchallenge.html.

March 15, 2010: The Claremont Review Annual Poetry and Fiction Contests. For ages 13 to 19. Up to three poems, or three postcard stories (to 500 words each) each on a separate sheet of 8.5" by 11" paper, or one longer story (to 5,000 words). Prizes $500, $300, $200, plus winning entries published on the http://www.abebooks.com Web site. Entry fee $18.00 for one category and $20.00 for both includes a one-year subscription. Blind judging. Enclose a separate cover letter including your name, address, telephone, e-mail, categories entered, titles of your pieces, and a short bio. SASE for results only. Annual Poetry Contest, Editors, The Claremont Review, 4980 Wesley Road, Victoria, BC V8Y 1Y9, online http://www.theclaremontreview.ca/annual_contest.htm

April 12, 2010: Spring Pulse Young Poets Contest. For poetry by children of elementary school age who live in the South Temiskaming district of Northern Ontario. First prize $100, second $75, and third $50, plus six honourable mentions of $25, a certificate, and one copy of the winners' anthology published by White Mountain Publications. Poems must be titled, not published before, and typed on a blank white 8.5" x 11" paper, no longer than 40 lines, and no wider than 44 characters. Do not put your name on the same page as your poem. Enclose a cover page with your poems showing your name, address, telephone, and e-mail. Awards will be presented at the Classic Theatre on April 6 during the Drummond Day ceremony, where winners will have a chance to read their poems in public. Spring Pulse Young Poets Contest, c/o Ann Margetson, Box 122, Cobalt, ON POJ 1CO, http://www.springpulsepoetryfestival.com/04-drummond-rules.htm.

March 23, 2009: Sixty-eight Writes. For students in grades 10, 11, or 12, maximum age 19, registered at a school in School District 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith). One work of prose fiction and/or one work of prose nonfiction between 1,000 and 3,000 words, on any topic about which you have a strongly felt, sincere concern or opinion to communicate, and which judges deem not to be inappropriate (i.e., no graphic sex, violence or hate). Prizes $300, $200, $100, and certificates of participation, and publication in an anthology. Students who do not win a cash prize but whose work is chosen for the anthology of best submissions will receive a $50 Writer’s Fee. Student art will be solicited for the cover, and work chosen will receive a $50 Artist’s Fee. Entries must be formatted according to the detailed instructions on the Web page http://members.shaw.ca/sixtyeightwrites/index_files/contestrules.pdf. Submit your entry as an attachment, and in the body of the e-mail include the title of your entry, the category (fiction or nonfiction), your name, grade, and school, and if possible a teacher’s name for contact, and e-mail to sixtyeightwrites@shaw.ca. For complete details consult the Web site http://members.shaw.ca/sixtyeightwrites.

March 31, 2010: The Canadian Aboriginal Youth Writing Challenge, sponsored by the Dominion Institute. For students of Aboriginal ancestry (Status, Non-Status, Inuit, and Métis), in two categories: ages 14 to 18 (maximum 1,400 words) and ages 19 to 29 (maximum 2,000 words) for a previously unpublished story about a defining moment in Aboriginal history. In each category, first prize $2,000 and a trip to a major Canadian city with a guardian to receive his or her award at a special reception with a group of Aboriginal leaders and authors, and publication of an excerpt from his or her story in The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine. Second prize $1,000, third prize $500, fourth to tenth prizes $100 each. For the top 10 winners, publication on the Project Web site, and a copy of Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past (Doubleday Canada, 2004). All participants will receive a Letter of Recognition. To enter, along with sending your story, submit a 200 to 400 word Author’s Statement explaining why you chose the historical event/period, and the Participant Submission Form downloadable from http://www.our-story.ca/submission_form.pdf. No entry fee. For full details, visit http://www.our-story.ca/youthWriting.html. E-mail stories to staff@dominion.ca or mail to Dominion Institute, 183 Bathurst Street, Suite 401,Toronto, ON M5T 2R7. Also a separate contest for groups of more than 15 Aboriginal youth. For full details, e-mail the staff or call toll-free at 1-866-701-1867.

April 25, 2009: Word Up! Teen Poetry and Spoken Word Contest. Sponsored by Halifax Public Libraries. For Junior High (grades 7 to 9) and Senior High (grades 10 to 12), who live in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Up to three submissions per entrant of poetry in any style (free verse, rhymed verse, haiku, sonnet, rap, etc.). In each category, first prize is a flip video camcorder, or 8GB iPod nano, or $150 Future Shop gift card. Second prize is a $100 mall gift card, and third prize is a $50 mall gift card. Original, individual work only (no groups), and your name should NOT appear on your poem. Entries must be accompanied by an application form available at your local library or online as of March 1, 2009, at http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/teens/warehouse.html/. Entries can be dropped off at any branch of the library, or submitted online as electronic files via the library’s website. Prizes will be awarded on the evening of May 22 at the Keshen Goodman Public Library. For more information, call (902) 490-6410 or e-mail covertj at halifax.ca.

April 30, 2010: Toronto Reading Council Annual Celebration of Writing. To recognize outstanding student and teacher writers by creating a yearly anthology of poetry written by Toronto Reading Council members and their students and children living in Ontario. Categories: Primary (ages 5 to 7 years), Junior (ages 8 to 10 years), Intermediate (ages 11 to 14 years), Senior (ages 14 to 18 years), and Teachers . Each writer should submit three copies of one poem and a completed application form with a signed declaration. Up to two entries will be chosen within each age category. Winners will have their picture taken and their writing read by a published author, uploaded to the Toronto Reading Council Web site and burned onto a CD. Toronto Reading Council Annual Celebration of Writing, http://www.torontoreadingcouncil.ca/poetry.php.

May 7 2010: Great Questions Essay Competition, sponsored by the Dominion Institute. For Canadian students who will graduate from high school in June 2010, university undergraduates, and Home School and IBL students all under age 21. For an essay to 1,500 words that clearly and concisely identifies the student author's position on one of the six Great Question topics; (2) supports that position with an argument based on evidence, recognising that evidence is information which is relevant, accurate, and important; (3) offers sound reasons for supporting some arguments and rejecting others; (4) concludes with a restatement of the final position; (5) observes the usual conventions of spelling, grammar, etc. First prize $2,000, First Runner-up $500, and Second Runner-up $250. All essay submissions will be done via e-mail. Begin with the student's name, teacher's or supervisor's name, school name and full mailing address, e-mail address, and which Great Canadian Question your essay is about (Founding Concepts, Identity Revolution, After Unity, Canada & the World, Heroes & Symbols, Does History Matter?). Cut and paste the essay into the body of the message. Attached files will not be accepted. E-mail your essay to staff@dominion.ca. For further information, visit http://www.greatquestions.com/e/bulletin.html.

May 15, 2010: Kisses and Popsicles Spring Poetry Contest. For previously unpublished poems to 40 lines each by teens ages 14 to 19 and children age 13 and under. Teen prizes $75, $35, and Web site publication; children's prizes $40, $20, and Web site publication. Teen entry fee $4.00 per poem; children $3.00 per poem. Submit three typed copies of the work (please divide poems into three piles, not stapled, for three separate judges). Place name, address, telephone number and/or e-mail address, and poem title in a single covering letter only. Blind judging. No manuscript return Winners announced on the Web site in June. Kisses and Popsicles Spring Poetry Contest, Pandora's Collective, Delamont Postal Outlet, P.O. Box 29118, 1950 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 5C2, online http://www.pandorascollective.com/contest.html, e-mail blnish_pandoras@yahoo.ca.

May 15, 2009: 3rd Annual Stellar Literary Festival Poetry Contest. Open to the GTA/Durham Region and the surrounding areas of Haliburton, Minden, Peterborough, Brighton, Cobourg, Port Hope, etc.—e-mail if in doubt. For poems previously unpublished in print or on the Web, open theme, in two categories: Teens 12 to 14 or Youth 15 to 18. First prize Certificate plus $15.00, second prize Certificate plus $10.00, third prize Certificate plus $5.00. Submit up to three poems, each not to exceed 55 lines (including stanza breaks) in length, 40 to 50 characters (including punctuation and spaces) in width, and set single spaced in 12 point Arial or Times New Roman font. Include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, and a short bio (up to 30 words). No entry fee. Submit in the body only of an e-mail message (no attachments), with Poetry Contest 2009 in the Subject line, to :poetrycontest@stellarliteraryfestival.com. Winners will be presented at the Stellar Literary Festival 2009 and will be published in the Stellar Showcase Journal, Fall Issue 2009, www.stellarshowcasejournal.com.

May 31, 2009: 9th Annual Ripple Efffects B.C. Youth Writing and Design Contest For high school students from British Columbia, both Junior (grades 7 to 10) and Senior (grades 11 to 12). Submit 1 to 4 poems, a short story or one-act play (maximum 2,000 words), an 8.5" x 11" reproduction of your original artwork, photograph or graphic design, or an essay about an issue concerning your local and/or global environment (maximum 2,000 words; research essays must provide proper references). Manuscripts must be typed on one side of 8.5" x 11"paper, and fiction and essays double-spaced. Four top students receive $500 and publication, additional students from each age group receive $100 and publication, and share the opportunity to perform readings and display visual art at the annual Wordscapes launch/gallery in Vancouver and other community arts events. All students who submit creative work receive a free one-year subscription to Wordscapes. Entryfee is $15 per submission in any one genre payable to Ripple Effect Arts and Literature Society; additional submissions in any genre for $10 each. School or class one-third discount available. Put only the title on the top right hand corner of each page of your manuscript, and print and complete the Entrance Form at http://rippleeffect.ca/entryform.htm. Mail your complete entry to Ripple Effect Youth Contest, P.O. Box 2836, Station Terminal, Vancouver, BC V6B 3X2. For further information contact info@rippleeffect.ca or http://rippleeffect.ca/ripple_contests.htm

September 15, 2009: Penguin Books Poetry Contest. For age 19 and under. On the theme of winter: "the winter of your soul, the winter that follows fall?" First prize: Penguin Books prize pack valued at $50 plus publication in What If? Second prize: Publication in What If?, Winter 2009 issue. E-mail submissions preferred to editor@whatifmagazine.com or send by snail mail. What If? Canada's Creative Magazine for Teens, 19 Lynwood Place, Guelph, ON N1G 2V9, online http://www.whatifmagazine.com/contests.htm.

September 15, 2009: Stone Road Mall Fiction Contest . For age 19 and under. Contemporary fiction, maximum 3,000 words (2,000 or less preferred). "As long as your story is set in current times, send it in." First prize $100 store gift certificate plus publication in What If?, second prize publication in What If? Winners announced in the Winter 2009 issue. E-mail submissions preferred to editor@whatifmagazine.com or send by snail mail. What If? Canada's Creative Magazine for Teens, 19 Lynwood Place, Guelph, ON N1G 2V9, online http://www.whatifmagazine.com/contests.htm.

September 15, 2009: The Summer Dream Poetry Contest. For previously unpublished poems to 40 lines each by teens ages 14 to 19 and children age 13 and under. Teen prizes $70, $35, and Web site publication; children's prizes $40, $20, and Web site publication. Teen entry fee $4.00 per poem; children $3.00 per poem. Submit three typed copies of the work. Place name, address, telephone number and/or e-mail address, and poem title in a covering letter only. Blind judging. No manuscript return. Winners announced on the Web site in February. The Summer Dream Poetry Contest, Pandora's Collective, Delamont Postal Outlet, P.O. Box 29118, 1950 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 5C2, online http://www.pandorascollective.com/contest.html, e-mail pandorascollective@hotmail.com.

October 5 to November 13, 2009: Meaning of Home Writing Contest, challenging students in grades 4, 5, and 6 to make a difference by creating an original essay or poem between 200 and 600 words on the meaning of home, in support of Habitat for Humanity. First prize a Dell computer and a $60,000 donation to help build a Habitat new home for a family in need, plus five runner-up donations, and $100 Chapters Indigo gift certificates. For teachers, the complete, ready-to-go Education Module—including a lesson plan, activity ideas, writing tips, and a Habitat for Humanity fact sheet—plus full contest details and official rules are online at http://www.meaningofhome.ca

November 14, 2009: Writers' Federation of New Brunswick Literary Competition For young people across Canada ages 14 to 18. Short Fiction to 4,000 words, Individual Poems up to five poems or 100 lines, and Children's Literature to 20,000 words. Prizes $150, $75, $50. First-prize winners from previous two years may not re-enter the same category in which they won. SASE for rules and manuscript return. Entry fee $15.00 for teens, $5.00 for children in The Sheree Fitch writing competition. Cash prizes. Blind judging. Writers' Federation of New Brunswick Literary Competition, P.O. Box 37, Station A, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Y2, telephone (506) 459-7228, online http://www.umce.ca/wfnb/litcomp.htm, e-mail wfnb@nb.aibn.com.

December 15, 2009: Penguin Books Poetry Contest. For age 19 and under. "Take a look at the picture bottom right at http://www.whatifmagazine.com/contests.htm. What is it…some kind of weird electronic fruit? A genetic modification gone seriously awry? The final integration of organic and machine? Send us your poem inspired by this image and you could be our next winner." First prize: Penguin Books prize pack valued at $50 plus publication in What If? Second prize: Publication in What If? Winners announced in the Spring 2010 issue. E-mail submissions preferred to editor@whatifmagazine.com or send by snail mail. What If? Canada's Creative Magazine for Teens, 19 Lynwood Place, Guelph, ON N1G 2V9, online http://www.whatifmagazine.com/contests.htm.

December 15, 2009: Stone Road Mall Fiction Contest . For age 19 and under. Science fiction, maximum 3,000 words (2,000 or less preferred) on "Deadly viruses, alien invasions, holocausts and robot attacks. Or maybe you're feeling positive these days and you want to write about future utopian societies, space voyages and friendly first encounters." First prize $100 store gift certificate plus publication in What If?, second prize publication in What If? Winners announced in the Spring 2010 issue. E-mail submissions preferred to editor@whatifmagazine.com or send by snail mail. What If? Canada's Creative Magazine for Teens, 19 Lynwood Place, Guelph, ON N1G 2V9, online http://www.whatifmagazine.com/contests.htm.

December 31, 2009: Haiku for Teens. Submissions are invited of haiku and senryu. “Haiku should seek to capture elements of the world of teens, including school, sports and entertainment (movies, music and books), relationships, technology, global issues, and more. The emphasis will be on contemporary urban life, although nature is by no means excluded. The goal is to find haiku that will engage teens, which means poems that don’t shy away from difficult subjects. There will also be a section of one-line haiku as well as concrete haiku. Poems may be previously published and there is no limit on the quantity of haiku you may submit.” (No entry/submission fee.) Work chosen will be published in the Haiku for Teens Anthology. For further information, contact Angela Leuck at acleuck@gmail.com. Her blog is "A Poet in the Garden" at http://www.acleuck.blogspot.com.


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