At a Glance

Most of Canada's major literary awards are doled out in the fall. It's when we hear talk of the Governor General's Literary Awards or the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Past winners of the Giller include Mordecai Richler and Margaret Atwood and the 2006 long list included such literary luminaries as Douglas Coupland, Alan Cumyn and David Adams Richards.

If you haven't made your name in the literary world, but have what could be that great Canadian classic sitting on your laptop, there are a host of literary contests and other avenues where you can make your name, maybe win a cash prize or even catch the eye of a literary agent. Deadlines for each prize vary.

Where to start

• CBC Literary Awards: AirCanada's inflight magazine, enRoute teams up with CBC and Radio-Canada for the annual CBC Literary Awards — Canada's only literary competition for English- and French-language, unpublished works.
  Anyone can enter and many do. Thousands of people from across the country submit their creative non-fiction, short stories and poetry for a fall deadline while a panel of established and up-and-coming literari members judge the submissions. The winners are published in enRoute, broadcast on CBC or Radio Canada and are often hailed as tomorrow's literary superstars. Previous winners include Camilla Gibb, Michael Ondaatje and Carol Shields, who won before they were internationally known authors.
• Montreal's Maisonneuve magazine publishes a city magazine and a quarterly magazine. They occasionally hold literary contests in conjunction with special issues of the magazine. The details of these contests are listed on their Web site under "special competitions." Winners are published in the magazine and usually receive a free subscription in addition to an honorarium of $100.
• Maisonneuve and Véhicule Press were also partners in the 2006 Quebec Writing Competition, which was co-sponsored by CBC Radio and the Quebec Writers' Federation and closed August 31. The contest is annual, so be sure to look for it next year.

Poetry

• If you lean toward rhyming stanzas, Arc Poetry Magazine offers five contests including Poem of the Year with a top prize of $1,500, though be warned: the judges are picky. Send your best works only.
• Grain Magazine has an annual poetry contest for original, unpublished poems. The Saskatchewan-based quarterly has been running the Short Grain Contest for 18 years and offers $6,000 in prize money.

Tools of the Trade

Those looking for a shortcut to success are advised to keep dreaming! While there are no magic pills or direct routes to literary stardom, there are a few tools of the trade that may help guide unknown writers from obscurity into the public eye:

• Quill & Quire : This Canadian trade magazine lists agents and deals in the works and offers an insight into the publishing world in Canada. You'll learn the key players and industry news.
• The Writer's Trust of Canada : This association offers a number of prizes, though submissions are accepted only from publishers, in most instances. Learn what works and how to gear your writing based on past winners' works.

Tools aside, the best place to start is with the written word, because nothing beats a great story.

By Fateema Sayani, October 2006

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