Established in 1993 in honour of the Union’s 20th anniversary, the Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers aims to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of short prose in order to provide opportunity and exposure to developing writers.
A $2,500 prize is awarded to a Canadian writer for the best piece of unpublished prose of up to 2,500 words in the English language. The Union submits the winning entry and those of the eleven other finalists to three Canadian magazines for consideration. In addition, the winning and finalist entries receive feedback on their submissions.
Submissions for the 2023 Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers are now open. The jurors for the 2023 Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers are Doretta Lau, Tāriq Malik, and Ann Shortell. Read the full announcement. Entries must be received electronically by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on February 17, 2023 to be eligible. The winner and finalists will be announced in late spring 2023.
Short Prose Competition Winners
- 2022: Christina Brobby
- 2021: Mirabelle Chiderah Harris-Eze
- 2020: Lisa McLean
- 2019: Sheilagh Guy Murphy
- 2018: Jo Hatherly
- 2017: Barbara Black
- 2016: Deepam Wadds
- 2015: Pamela van der Woude
- 2014: Jill Sexsmith
- 2013: Chloe Hogan-Weihmann
- 2011: Amy Stuart
- 2010: Heather Tucker
- 2009: Zoe Stikeman
- 2008: Julie Booker
- 2007: John Blackmore
- 2006: Anna Johnston
- 2005: Eleanor Verbicky-Todd
- 2004: Natasha Lawrence
- 2003: Jocelyne Figueiredo
- 2001: Janice McCachen
- 1999: Tanya Ambrose
- 1998: Lewis DeSoto
- 1997: Paul Glennon
- 1996: Melanie Little
- 1995: Shauna Singh Baldwin
- 2022: Christina Brobby
- 2021: Mirabelle Chiderah Harris-Eze
- 2020: Lisa McLean
- 2019: Sheilagh Guy Murphy
- 2018: Jo Hatherly
- 2017: Barbara Black
- 2016: Deepam Wadds
- 2015: Pamela van der Woude
- 2014: Jill Sexsmith
- 2013: Chloe Hogan-Weihmann
- 2011: Amy Stuart
- 2010: Heather Tucker
- 2009: Zoe Stikeman
- 2008: Julie Booker
- 2007: John Blackmore
- 2006: Anna Johnston
- 2005: Eleanor Verbicky-Todd
- 2004: Natasha Lawrence
- 2003: Jocelyne Figueiredo
- 2001: Janice McCachen
- 1999: Tanya Ambrose
- 1998: Lewis DeSoto
- 1997: Paul Glennon
- 1996: Melanie Little
- 1995: Shauna Singh Baldwin