Call for submissions: University-wide Creative Writing Competition

Creative writing awards graphic, courtesy award committee

The annual President’s Creative Writing Awards, the Lorna Marsden Prize for Creative Writing in French, the Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize for Emerging Poets and the Richard Teleky Short Fiction Prize are accepting unpublished and original writing submissions.

The awards submissions should fall into one of four categories: poetry, short fiction, screenplay and stage play. Submissions for the Lorna Marsden Prize for Creative Writing in French are accepted in any of the above creative genres, if the work is written in French.

Any undergraduate submissions to the President’s Awards in poetry will automatically also be considered for the Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize. Undergraduate submissions to the President’s Awards in short fiction will automatically also be considered for the Teleky Prize.

There is no minimum or maximum length requirement in each category, but submissions must fall within the above genres. (The awards are not open to novels or opera librettos.) Contestants can enter a writing piece in each category but may not submit more than one entry in each category.

The winning entry for the Lorna Marsden Prize, and in each genre for the President’s Awards, will receive $1,000. The Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize carries an award of $1,500 and the Teleky Prize winner will receive $2,000. No prize will be awarded if the judges feel entries are of insufficient merit. The decision of the judges is final.

The competition results will be announced in the spring, and prizes will be awarded at the annual Creative Writing Awards reception. Names will be published in YFile and on the English Department and Creative Writing Program website.

The deadline for online submissions is Jan. 13, 2023. For additional information, submission requirements, contest rules and how to apply, click here.

For more information, contact the Creative Writing Program Assistant Michelle Anacleto by email at michana@yorku.ca.