Attention local authors: The North Shore Writers' Association’s Annual Writing Contest will soon be open for submissions, and you could be in with a chance of taking home a grand prize.
Now in its 28th year, the contest champions local and national literary talent, with cash prizes given in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Entries will be open from Jan. 15 until March 15, with the winners set to be announced during the North Shore Writers’ Festival in April.
“This is something that can really raise an author’s profile and help them get published,” said the contest’s judge liaison Cathalynn Labonte-Smith.
"It’s a great thing to be added to someone’s literary CV.”
All submissions must be original material that has not appeared in any other publication, or on the Internet, with a maximum word count of 2,000 per entry. For poetry, one to two poems constitutes one entry; to a maximum of 2,000 words total.
Multiple entries per author are accepted.
With the contest now open to authors nationwide for the very first time, and entry fees significantly lowered this year to acknowledge the struggles brought on by the rising cost of living, Labonte-Smith said the association is expecting a much larger list of entries than previous years.
Last year, there had been around 80, she added.
The contest will also be introducing a new genre, Writing for Young Children and Adults, and will be working with the North Vancouver School District and PAC to encourage young scribes to enter the contest.
“Writing for young adults is a huge, burgeoning field,” said Labonte-Smith.
Also as the president and founder of the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society, Labonte-Smith said the association was driven to include the literary efforts of local youth after the Sunshine Coast Book Awards, a separate competition, saw about half of its entries come under the children and young adult genre last year.
“It’s really good to encourage literature and reading at the base level. It’s definitely something that should be encouraged,” she said.
Featuring a who’s who of the local literary scene, the contest will see the likes of Iona Whishaw, the award-winning author behind the Lane Winslow Mystery series, and author, screenwriter and poet Cynthia Sharp take on the role of judges.
Several local bookstores, including 32 Books, Kidsbooks and Back Lane Books, will sponsor the cash prizes, with the first prize in each category being $100 cash. Up for grabs for the youth winners, those in Grades 8-12, is $50 cash and a $25 gift certificate.
For more information on the contest and to make a submission, visit nswriters.org/annual-contest/
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
