The Awesome Authors Contest is back, and young people aged 9 to 18 are welcome to submit their writing for a chance to win.
Not only is the contest a fantastic opportunity for Ottawa’s young writers to gain exposure and receive helpful tips and advice on how to improve their writing, but the winners will also receive a cash prize and have their work published in an anthology called Pot-pourri by the end of this year.
Contestants can choose to write in either English or French, and can submit a poem, short story, or comic/graphic novel. There is only one submission allowed per person, per category.
Those who are interested have until February 24th, 2023, at 11:59 pm to make a submission, which you can do on the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) website.
The OPL will also be offering several writer’s workshops hosted by local published authors and contest judges Catherine Austen, Apollo the Child, Amelinda Bérubé, Pierre-Luc Bélanger and Éric Péladeau.
The workshops will focus on several different themes related to writing, including genres and styles of writing, and will also allow for contestants to receive plenty of feedback before the contest concludes.
If you know of any young writers that meet the qualifications for the contest, be sure to spread the word and give them a chance to have their writing published for all to see.
In the past few years, even a couple of young writers from here in Stittsville have made their marks through their contribution to the Awesome Authors contest.
Stittsville’s Lucy Hambly from A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School won 3rd place in the Short stories category in the 2021-2022 contest for her piece The Fourth Planet From the Sun. She was also given an honourable mention for her short story Twilight Wind in the 2020-2021 contest.
Shayne MacDonald from Westwind Public School is another contestant from Stittsville who was given an honourable mention for the poem Bad Birthday in the 2021-2022 contest. For more information about the Awesome Authors contest, and to check out the writer’s workshops, visit the Ottawa Public Library’s website here.