The Writers’ Union of Canada invites submissions to its 28th annual Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers. Unpublished works of fiction and nonfiction up to 2,500 words in English are eligible, and writers may submit multiple entries. A $2,500 prize will be awarded to the winner, and the entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three Canadian magazines for consideration. The deadline for entries is February 12, 2021.

The Competition aims to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of short prose. “Over its twenty-eight-year history, the Short Prose Competition has always delivered an eclectic array of entries,” says Executive Director John Degen. “It is quite exciting to discover promising new writers each year.” Past finalists and winners have included such future luminaries as Shauna Singh Baldwin, Lewis DeSoto, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Alexander MacLeod, and Amy Stuart.

The Union is proud to announce an esteemed group of jurors for the Competition:

• Madeline Coopsammy was born in Trinidad, West Indies. She received a Government of India scholarship to study at Delhi University, India, in 1960, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree. She emigrated to Canada in 1968, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at the University of Manitoba. She has published articles and book reviews in The Winnipeg Free Press, Caribe, Contemporary Verse Two, Prairie Fire, The Indo-Canadian Telegram, and HERizons. Her publications include the poetry collection Prairie Journey and the novel The Old Songs.
   
• Derek Mascarenhas is a graduate of the University of Toronto SCS Creative Writing Program, a finalist and runner-up for the Penguin Random House of Canada Student Award for Fiction, and a nominee for the Marina Nemat Award. His linked short story collection, Coconut Dreams, was called a “stunning debut” in Quill & Quire‘s starred review, and The Globe and Mail named it one of the best reads from Canadian small presses. Derek currently lives in Toronto.
   
• Suzanne Methot is the author of the nonfiction book Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing, co-author of the Grade 11 textbook Aboriginal Beliefs, Values, and Aspirations, and a contributor to Scholastic’s Take Action series of elementary classroom resource books. She has served on juries and review panels for the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Learning Partnership. Suzanne makes her home on the unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw Nation, near Nanaimo, BC.

The Competition is open to Canadian citizens and residents who have had no more than one book published and are not currently under contract for a second book. Authors not published in book format are also eligible. The entry fee is $29 per submission, and submissions are accepted online until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on February 12, 2021. The winner will be announced in late spring 2021. 

For complete rules and regulations, and to submit, visit writersunion.ca/short-prose-competition.

The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. TWUC was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers. Now over 2,200 members strong, TWUC advocates on behalf of writers’ collective interests, and delivers value to members through advocacy, community, and information. TWUC believes in a thriving, diverse Canadian culture that values and supports writers.