2023 Non-Fiction Contest

Details:

Genre: Creative Non-Fiction. Writers are encouraged to explore the form.

Prizes: $3,000 in total, plus publication in EVENT: $1,500 First Place; $1,000 Second Place; $500 Third Place.

Entry Fee: $34.95 per entry; includes a one-year subscription (or renewal) to EVENT and all applicable taxes and shipping

Deadline: EXTENDED ONE WEEK to October 22, 2023 (submitted online via Submittable, or postmarked)

Guest Judge: Omar Mouallem

Two Ways to Submit:

1. Online via Submittable. Click on the button below):


submit

2. Send your manuscript, along with a cheque or international money order, payable to EVENT, to the address below. (American entrants please pay in US dollars.) Include a separate cover sheet with name, full mailing address, phone number / email, title and word count.

EVENT, Non-Fiction Contest, PO Box 2503, New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2, Canada

Guest Judge: Omar Mouallem

Omar Mouallem is an author, filmmaker, and educator. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, WIRED, and NewYorker.com. His book Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas won the 2022 Wilfred Eggleston Nonfiction Award and was named one of the Globe and Mail’s 100 best books of 2021. His documentary The Lebanese Burger Mafia, which documents the unlikely link between fast-food and Lebanese immigrants, won the 2023 Audience Choice for Best Doc at Northwest International Documentary Festival. He also teaches creative nonfiction at the University of King’s College and is the “fake dean” of Pandemic University School of Writing, a virtual school he founded in support of writers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rules

  • 5,000 word limit on entries.
  • Entries must not have been previously published, either in print or online, or been accepted for publication elsewhere.
  • No simultaneous submissions.
  • Do not identify yourself on the entry.
  • Multiple entries are allowed; however, each entry must be accompanied by its own $34.95 entry fee.
  • If already subscribed to EVENT, you will receive a one-year extension.
  • Entries will not be returned.
  • If entrants wish feedback and commentary on manuscripts, please check out our Reading Service for Writers.
  • Writers with fiction or poetry manuscripts currently under submission with EVENT are welcome to enter.
  • Preliminary judging is done by the Editor and editorial assistants at EVENT.
  • Douglas College students, employees and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter. Douglas College students may enter two years after completing courses.
  • Entries must be postmarked or submitted online by end of day October 22 (Pacific Time).
  • Contest results are posted on our website and through social media. The winning entries and judge’s essay are published in the Spring/Summer issue of EVENT.
  • For more information, contact us at event@douglascollege.ca or 604-527-5293.

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