Contests
The Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest: $1000 for one winning essay
*EXTENDED DEADLINE* April 11, 2018
Edna Staebler was a pioneer in the field of literary journalism and a beloved figure in her (our) home region of Waterloo, Ontario. Her first article, “Duellists of the Deep,” a story about swordfishing with Neil’s Harbour fishermen, and published in Macleans when she was in her forties, won the Canadian Womens Press Club Memorial Award. Edna went on to publish with Macleans, Chatelaine, Saturday Night, and other flagship magazines, while her books include the Food that Really Schmecks series—cookbooks so entertaining that people read them in bed. 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 us to establish this award, in her honour.
Entry & Eligibility Details
- One $1000 top prize will be awarded for one personal essay (no word limit).
- Entry fee: $40 per essay (includes a 1-year Canadian subscription or renewal to The New Quarterly).
- We are interested in essays in which the writer’s personal engagement with the subject provides the frame or through-line.
- If names used in your essay might reveal your identity, please use pseudonyms and make a note on your entry form; that way we can ask for real names should the piece go to publication.
- Submissions must be unpublished, nor can they be accepted for publication elsewhere.
- Submissions are accepted online only.
- Entrants must be Canadian (citizen or resident).
- Entrant’s name must not appear in the essay.
- All entries will be considered for publication in The New Quarterly ($250 paid upon publication).
Please note: Entrants’ anonymity will be preserved throughout the judging process. Decisions will be made by August 31. Finalists will be notified by email.
Enter the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest Now!
The Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award, sponsored by the St Jerome’s University English Department
Deadline: May 28, 2018
Winning story: $1000
This contest honours distinguished St Jerome’s University lecturer, Peter Hinchcliffe, who was instrumental in founding The New Quarterly and who served for many years as co-editor. His approach to teaching, as well as his personal charm and endearing sense of humour, had an enduring influence on both students and colleagues; this award recognizes Peter’s outstanding contributions to his home department.
Entry & Eligibility Details
- One $1000 top prize will be awarded for one work of short fiction (no word limit).
- Entry fee: $40 per piece (includes a 1-year Canadian subscription or renewal to The New Quarterly).
- Submissions must be unpublished, nor can they have been accepted for publication elsewhere.
- Submissions are accepted online only.
- Entrants must be Canadian (citizen or resident).
- Entrants must not have published either a first novel or short story collection.
- Ensure that the entrant’s name does not appear on the submission document.
- All entries will be considered for publication in The New Quarterly ($250 paid upon publication).
Please note: Entrants’ anonymity will be preserved throughout the judging process. Decisions will be made by August 31st. Finalists will be notified by email.
Enter the Peter Hinchcliffe Short Fiction contest now!
The Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest: $1000 for one glorious poem
This contest is currently closed. Next deadline: February 28, 2019
Sponsored by former TNQ editor Kim Jernigan and family in memory of her father Nick Blatchford, in celebration of the man who sparked the family’s love of poetry. For poems written in response to an existing occasion, personal or public, or poems that make an occasion of something ordinary or uncelebrated by virtue of the poet’s attention. We are interested in light verse and in verse more sober, in the whole spectrum of tones and occasions. One of Nick’s own poems, which we think captures the broadness of his (and our) sense of occasion, is pictured at left. It originally appeared in Issue 100 of TNQ.
Entry & Eligibility Details
- One $1000 top prize will be awarded for one work of occasional verse (no word limit).
- An additional $1000 will be distributed as the judges fancy.
- Entry fee: $40 for up to 3 poems (includes a 1-year Canadian subscription or renewal to The New Quarterly).
- Submissions must be unpublished, nor can they accepted for publication elsewhere.
- Submissions are accepted online only.
- Entries may be accompanied by a brief paragraph describing the event that occasioned the poem.
- Entrants must be Canadian (citizen or resident).
- Entrant’s name must not appear on the submission document.
- All entries will be considered for publication in The New Quarterly ($40/poem paid upon publication).
Please note: Entrants’ anonymity will be preserved throughout the judging process. Decisions will be made by August 31st. Finalists will be notified by email.