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Contests

OS2025

Our annual Open Season Awards accepts entries in:

poetry
short fiction
creative nonfiction

The contest is open to Canadian and international writers anywhere in the world.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: 11:59pm (PST) on November 5, 2024

The winner in each genre will receive a prize of CAD$2,000 and be published in the magazine's spring 2025 issue #230.

Entries accepted via Submittable only. (See below for instructions.)

Contest Judges

Corinna Chong (fiction)
Sadiqa de Meijer (creative nonfiction)
Matthew Hollett (poetry)

Read their bios here or click their names to read interviews with them on what they're looking for in a winning piece.

Book Prizes

In addition to the three $2,000 prizes, we're giving away book prizes to three lucky contest entrants! All you have to do is submit your work to the contest, and you'll be automatically entered to win. After the deadline, we'll pull three names from the list of entrants.

Guidelines

poetry: up to 3 poems per entry (must be submitted in a single document), no individual poem more than 100 lines long, line count must be given for each poem.

short fiction: 1 story per entry, 2,500 words max, word count must be given at the top of the first page.
creative nonfiction: 1 piece per entry, 2,500 words max, word count must be given at the top of the first page.
All entries are judged anonymously. No identifying information is to be included on any poem, story, or nonfiction piece submitted.
Multiple entries are allowed (at a reduced fee, if paid for at the same time as the initial entry: see Entry Fees and How to Submit below).
Entrants may submit work in more than one genre (see Additional Entries below).

Entry Fees

CAD$35 for each entry from Canada

*Early Bird discount until Sep. 30: CAD$20

CAD$45 for each entry from elsewhere

*Early Bird discount until Sep. 30: CAD$30

CAD$10 for each additional entry (any writer, any country)

See How to Pay (below) for detailed instructions.

Entrants receive a one-year print subscription to The Malahat Review for the initial entry only.

Additional Entries

To receive the reduced entry fee(s) of CAD$10, any additional entries must be paid for at the same time as the first entry; such additional entries should be submitted on Submittable within 24 hours of the initial entry.
Additional entries may be submitted in any genre (e.g., an initial entry in poetry may be accompanied by an additional entry or entries in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction).

Eligible Entries

No work simultaneously submitted elsewhere, already published, or already accepted for publication is eligible for consideration (even if only excerpted, or even if revised since original publication). We consider any appearance in print or online to be a publication, including newspapers, newsletters, magazines, anthologies, chapbooks, books, websites, blogs, social media, etc. This restriction applies regardless of the size of the print run or the extent of the circulation of previously published work.
Failure to comply with these criteria for eligibility will immediately disqualify any entry, regardless of when the ineligiblity is discovered in the process of adjudication (submission, processing, screening, shortlisting, final judging).
The entry fee for a disqualified submission will not be refunded, and the entrant will still receive a one-year print subscription to the magazine.

Notification

The winner in each genre will be notified by email.
Other entrants will receive notifications of the shortlists and winners via Submittable messages.
The shortlists and winners in each genre will be announced in January 2024 on our website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
The winners will be interviewed, and the interviews will be published on our website and in a spring edition of Malahat lite.

How to Pay (credit card)

Go to our online store to pay your contest fee(s).
Payment must be made online through our store before submitting, since you must include your ORDER# with your submission. We accept VISA, Mastercard, or American Express. No password is needed in order to pay your entry fee on our store website—simply choose guest checkout.
Online payments will not be accepted after the contest deadline (if you have any problems with such payment, please write to malahat[at]uvic.ca).

How to Pay (cheque or money order)

If you are unable to pay by credit card, you can mail a cheque or money order made out to The Malahat Review in CAD$ or USD$ to: The Malahat Review, Clearihue Bldg, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700, Stn CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada.
Instead of an order#, you must indicate "cheque" or "money order" as required on the submission form.
Cheques or money orders must be mailed with a postmark date of no later than November 5, 2024.

How to Submit

Only online submissions made through The Malahat Review's Open Season Awards portal on Submittable will be accepted.
Acceptable file formats: Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF.
A single entry is defined as 1 to 3 poems (uploaded in a single document, maximum 100 lines per poem), or 1 short story or 1 creative nonfiction piece (max 2,500 words in each case).
You can make only one entry at a time on Submittable; to submit additional entries, whether at the reduced rate (paid for at the same time) or at a standard rate, simply follow the same process as with the initial submission (the ORDER # will be the same for additional entries paid for at the same time as the initial submission; it will be different for an entry or entries made at a later date, since these require the full fee).