Our friends over at The Puritan are hosting their fifth annual Thomas Mortan Memorial Prize. A prize, they say, is a real writer’s prize. Here they discuss the award and why it stands out among the noise of other contests. Their deadline for submission is October 10. Submit now!
“We like to think of ‘The Morton’ as slightly more appealing than many other honors from many other magazines—even those that grant a bit more money. That’s because we see The Morton writing contest as a real writer’s prize.” Why? The Puritan editors say that writers are the best readers. So in addition to publication and $1,000 cash to the winners in fiction and poetry, writers will also be awarded a prize back of books valued at nearly $2000. The Puritan editors say: “For all winners, it’s a fantastic snapshot of a year in Canadian literary publishing.”
This year’s judges are the talented Rawi Hage, who will be selecting the fiction winner, and Jan Zwicky for poetry. Submissions are due by October 10, and details on how to submit can be found on The Purtian’s website.
Fiction writers are invited to submit between 1000 and 7500 words, and poetry writers are asked to submit up to four poems, but no longer than four pages, whichever comes first. Multiple entries are allowed in either category.