Call for Submissions: University-wide Creative Writing Competition open to all 91亚色U students. Apply now!聽
The annual President鈥檚 Creative Writing Awards, the Lorna Marsden Prize for Creative Writing in French and the Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize for Emerging Poets are accepting unpublished and original writing submissions.
The President鈥檚 Awards and the Lorna Marsden Prize are open to all full or part-time 91亚色 undergraduate students only. The Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
The President鈥檚 Creative Writing Awards accept submissions in the following three categories: poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Submissions should comprise a single poem or a short story. Creative nonfiction submissions can include personal essays, memoir, autocriticism, travel writing, and literary journalism, as well as any other form of narrative prose nonfiction that is neither reportage nor academic work.
Submissions for the Lorna Marsden Prize for Creative Writing in French are accepted in any of the above creative genres, as long as the work is written in French.
Any undergraduate submissions to the President鈥檚 Awards in Poetry will automatically also be considered for the Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen 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, for example. Contestants may enter a writing piece in each category but may not submit more than one entry in each category.
The winning submission in each category for the President鈥檚 Awards and the Lorna Marsden Prize will receive $1,000. The Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize winner will receive $1,500.
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.
Please note that any use of generative AI must be declared and specified or the submission will be automatically disqualified. Grammar checks are acceptable.
The deadline for online submissions is Jan. 8, 2027. For additional information, submission requirements, contest rules and how to apply, please click here.
For further questions, contact Michelle Anacleto, Creative Writing Program Assistant, by email at lapscrwr@yorku.ca.