2012 Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize

The Malahat Review, Canada’s premier literary magazine, invites entries from Canadian, American, and overseas authors for its Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize. One award of $1,000 CAD is given.

photo of Constance Rooke
Constance Rooke

The Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize is awarded to the best work submitted to the magazine’s annual contest for 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. 

Connie Rooke (1942–2008) was born Constance Merriam Raymond in New York City. She pursued undergraduate studies at Smith College, where she won the same writing scholarship earlier held by Sylvia Plath (a matter of some pride). After a year roaming around Europe, she settled in New Orleans, concentrating on graduate studies at Tulane. In 1967, she began working on her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she took over the editorship of the venerable Carolina Quarterly, and met and married Leon Rooke, the writer in residence at the time. 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’s way during her tenure as editor, along with a substantial increase in subscriptions. In 1989, she became chair at the Department of English at the University of Guelph, later becoming that institution’s Vice-President, Academic. She went on to become president of the University of Winnipeg, president of PEN Canada, and created the MFA Writing Program at the University of Guelph.  Her essay collection, Fear of the Open Heart, is generally revered, as are the numerous other volumes she edited and compiled. She published many short stories and her critical work has been widely anthologized. She changed—and enriched—a great many lives.

2012 Deadline

The deadline for the 2012 Creative Nonfiction Prize is August 1, 2012 (postmark date).

This year's judge will be Madeline Sonik.

Guidelines

  • The entry must be between 2,000 and 3,000 words. Please indicate word count on the first page. Please double space your work.
  • No restrictions as to subject matter or approach apply. For example, the entry may be personal essay, memoir, cultural criticism, nature writing, or literary journalism. (Read our Creative Nonfiction Mandate here; read the Creative Nonfiction Collective's definition of creative nonfiction here.)
  • Entry fee required:
    • $35 CAD for Canadian entries;
    • $40 US for American entries;
    • $45 US for entries from Mexico and outside North America.
  • Entrants receive a one-year subscription to The Malahat Review for themselves or a friend.
  • Entries previously published, accepted, or submitted for publication elsewhere are not eligible.
  • The Malahat Review makes no distinction between online and print publication. Work published by an online journal, on a personal website, or in a blog is considered to be previously published.
  • Entrants’ anonymity is preserved throughout the judging. Contact information (including an email address) should not appear on the submission, but along with the title on an enclosed separate page.
  • No submissions will be accepted by email.
  • The winner and finalists will be notified via email.
  • Entrants will not be notified about the judges' decisions even if an SASE is enclosed for this purpose.
  • The winner and finalists will be announced on The Malahat web site and facebook page, with the publication of only the winning entry in The Malahat Review’s Winter 2012 issue.
  • The winner will be interviewed. The interview will appear on our website and in Malahat lite, the magazine’s monthly e-newsletter, in December 2012.
  • No entries will be returned, even if accompanied by an SASE.
  • Send entries and enquiries to:
    The Malahat Review
    University of Victoria
    P.O. Box 1700
    Stn CSC
    Victoria, B.C. V8W 2Y2
    Canada
    Email: malahat@uvic.ca
    Telephone: 250-721-8524
    Fax: 250-472-5051

Entrants wishing to pay by credit card may download and complete our Credit Card Payment Form then enclose it with their entries.

Previous Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize Winners