TORONTO, Jan. 4, 2019 /CNW/ – Do you dream of becoming a published author?
If so, then the 2019 Toronto Star Short Story Contest offers you a perfect opportunity to show your skills as a writer and possibly see your story printed in the largest newspaper in Canada.
The winner will see their story published in Canada’s largest newspaper and have the chance to study with some of the best creative writing teachers in the country.
Starting Saturday, January 5, writers who live in Ontario can enter the contest, which attracts up to 2,000 entries a year. All submissions must be received by 5 p.m., Thursday, February 28, 2019. The winners will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges.
The contest, now in its 41st year, carries one of the biggest prizes in Canada for a short story contest, with the first-place winner receiving $5,000, plus their choice of either the tuition fee for the 30-week creative writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers, which has an approximate value of $3,400, or a week-long summer workshop at Humber’s Lakeshore campus in Toronto, which has an approximate value of $1,000.
In addition, the second-place winner receives a cash prize of $2,000 and the third-place winner gets $1,000.
The contest is open to all Ontario residents 16 years of age or older. Entrants can write on any topic they want. Stories must be original, previously unpublished and not longer than 2,500 words. Entries are limited to one for each person.
This is the 10th consecutive year that the Toronto Public Library has been a partner with the Star in presenting the contest. The Humber School for Writers is once again a partner in the contest.
“This contest is one of the things that I personally look forward to each spring,” says City Librarian Vickery Bowles. “And on an institutional level, we are always so happy to see and to share the amazing writing that Torontonians submit each year. We’re fortunate to live in such a creative city.”
A Humber School for Writers’ panel will read all entries and narrow the submissions to a short list of 25-30 stories. Winners will be selected from the short list by a panel of judges, including Bowles; Carrianne Leung, a Toronto short story writer and author; Deborah Dundas, Toronto Star books editor; and Richard Ouzounian, former Star theatre critic and author of six books.
The winners will be announced in April and their stories will be published in the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper.
For full contest rules, please visit: www.thestar.com/ShortStory
About the Toronto Star:
The Toronto Star, founded in 1892, is ready by approximately 3.0 million readers a week in print and online (thestar.com). The Toronto Star is party of the Torstar Group’s Daily News Brands, which included The Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune, Peterborough Examiner, the StarMetro free daily newspapers in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax, and the jointly-owned Chinese language newspaper Sing Tao as well as Toronto.com and The Kit, a fashion and beauty publication.
About Toronto Public Library:
Toronto Public Library is one of the world’s busiest urban public library systems. Every year, 19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow 32 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get the most current updates on what’s happening at the library, follow us on Twitter@torontolibrary.
CONTACT: Bob Hepburn, Director, Community Relations and Communications, Toronto Star, (416) 869-4947, bhepburn@thestar.ca; Gregory McCormick, Manager, Cultural and Special Event Programming, Toronto Public Library, (416) 393-7098, GMcCormick@torontopubliclibrary.ca
