Contests


CNF Prize banner extended

We're now accepting entries to our Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize.

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

DEADLINE EXTENDED: August 6, 2024 at 11:59pm PDT

One winner will receive a prize of CAD $1,250 and be published in the magazine's winter 2024 issue #229.

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

Creative nonfiction is a genre that embraces, but is not limited to, the personal essay, memoir, narrative nonfiction, social commentary, travel writing, historical accounts, and biography, all enhanced by such elements as description, dramatic scenes, dialogue, and characterization.

Judge

Meet the judge for the 2024 contest:

Read an interview with her to find out what she's looking for in a winning creative nonfiction piece.

Book Prize

We're giving away a book prize to one lucky entrant! 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 one name from the list of entrants.

About Constance Rooke

photo of Constance Rooke

Connie Rooke (1942–2008) was born Constance Merriam Raymond in New York City. In 1969, she joined the University of Victoria’s Department of English. Her decade-long stewardship of The Malahat Review made it the go-to publication among Canadian literary magazines. The initial three Journey Prizes, among many other awards, came The Malahat Review’s way during her tenure as editor, along with a substantial increase in subscriptions. Her essay collection, Fear of the Open Heart, is generally revered, as are the numerous other volumes she edited and compiled.  Read more.

Guidelines

  • Writers may submit one piece of creative nonfiction per entry.

  • Each entry must be no longer than 4,000 words (please include a word count on the first page).

  • There are no restrictions on subject matter or aesthetic approach. For example, the entry may be personal essay, memoir, nature writing, etc. (Read our creative nonfiction mandate here.)

  • All entries are judged anonymously (no identifying information is to be included on any submission).
  • Multiple entries are allowed (at a reduced fee, if paid for at the same time as the initial entry: see Entry Fee, Additional Entries, and How to Submit below).

Entry Fee

  • CAD $35 for each entry from Canada *early bird discount until June 30, 2024: CAD $20

  • CAD $45 for each entry from elsewhere *early bird discount until June 30, 2024: CAD $30

  • CAD $15 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 (no subscriptions are available for additional entries).

Additional Entries

  • To receive the reduced entry fee(s) of CAD $15, any additional entries must be paid for at the same time as the first entry; such additional entries should be submitted online within 24 hours of the initial submission. The same guidelines apply to additional entries as to the initial submission.

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 ineligibility 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 will be notified by email.

  • Other entrants will receive notification of the shortlist and the winner via Submittable messages.

  • The shortlist and winner will be announced in October 2024 on our website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

  • The winner will be interviewed, and the interview will be published on our website and in the December 2024 or January 2025 edition of our newsletter, 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 email 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 Reviewin 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 Submittable submission form.

  • Cheques or money orders must be mailed with a postmark date of no later than August 6, 2024.

How to Submit

  • Only online submissions made through The Malahat Review's Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize portal on the Submittable website will be accepted.

  • Acceptable file formats: Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF only.

  • You can make only one entry at a time on the Submittable webpage; 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).

Click on the "Submit" icon below in order to submit to the Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize contest on Submittable:

Submittable

Previous Winners